The 91st Annual Hunger Games
by Zulera301
Summary: Wes and Ava were familiar with stories of siblings getting reaped in back-to-back Hunger Games, but they never expected to both get reaped the same year. Faced with this harsh reality, the brother-sister pair sets off to prepare to fight for their survival, the ever-present dilemma of who lives and who dies still looming overhead. After all, there can only be one victor... right?
1. Chapter 1: The Reaping

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_Welcome one, welcome all, to The 91st Annual Hunger Games! This is the 1st volume of my "Fire Without a Spark" series. The series focuses on what Panem would be like if Katniss had never volunteered for Prim, and thus the 2nd rebellion had never happened. I wanted to explore a handful of different ideas about situations or circumstances that could happen in or surrounding the 'games, and so this is one of several different results. Enjoy.  
Please also note that the story "ends" with chapter 45, while chapters 46, 47, 48, and 49 (and/or any subsequent chapters) comprise an epilogue.  
_

_(Now complete, with 2 completed sequels and a 3rd in the works. Reviews, Feedback, Compliments, or [Constructive] Criticism are both welcomed and encouraged, especially any thoughts about the characters, which is probably what interests me the most.)  
_

**PART I: BROTHER AND SISTER  
**

**CHAPTER 1: The Reapings  
**

As had been the custom for the last 90 years, every boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18 was soon to be lined up outside of the district's Justice Building for one simple but terrible purpose. It was that time of year again where two of them-a boy and a girl, would be sent to their deaths. Even in the event that one of them was the victor, that still meant that one of them was not going to return.

Wes was slightly concerned about it like most children from District 12 were. Many of them took out so much tesserae that it stacked up heavily against them as they grew older. At 17, he was sure his name was in there numerous times. On the other hand, it was not like his plight was unique, and so with each kid having their name in numerous times, perhaps everyone's chances were more or less the same.

He and his sister Ava were getting cleaned up by their mother, who was finishing by combing their messy black hair to make her children look somewhat presentable for the 'games. Their father had succumbed to disease about a decade before. Healthcare in the district was not exactly stellar after all.

"Wes, watch over your sister." Their mother pleaded as she looked her dressed-up children over one last time. Ava shook her head.

"Mom, I'm 15. It's not like I'm a little baby. Don't worry—I'll come back from this Reaping alive and in one piece—I promise it."

"I can still at least walk with you to the Reaping, right, Ava?" Wes chuckled, offering his hand. The two dark-skinned siblings were rather close, and were not afraid to hold hands—their appearances were so similar that it was easy to tell they were related. They only parted ways when Wes went to join the boys and Ava went to join the girls.

"I'd say something about jinxing it, but well… that'd jinx it." He gave his sister another hug. "Love ya, Ava. May the odds be ever in your favor."

After the potential tributes were all rounded up, they watched the usual film from the Capitol stating the origins of the Hunger Games and why they went on. They all knew this drill. During this time, a tanned young adult in baggy clothes with long, flowing brown hair stepped up onto the stage, seating himself next to the mayor and a few other officials from the Capitol. Wes recognized him as Vigo—a boy who had won the games a decade or so ago. Next to him was a girl in her 30s who had won the games prior to Vigo. Her name escaped Wes at the time, but she might be accompanying the tributes to the Capitol. Technically only one mentor was ever obligated to go, and it was usually the most recent one.

Shortly after the film concluded, a pale woman with dark, spiky blue hair and red eyes strode onto the stage, her frilly knee-length skirts bouncing with each step—easily another Capitol citizen—Junichi Thatch; escort for the District 12 tributes. She was not as bad as most Capitol people came off. She was not too garish with her appearance (the hair color threw him off a bit though), and seemed to be down-to-earth a bit. Wes had also heard that she had a rather nice sense of humor.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" she beamed, going into a miniature speech before cutting right to the point. "And now it is time to choose our tributes for the 91st Annual Hunger Games… and as is the custom—ladies first,"

She stepped over to one of the large glass spheres that held girl's names, running her hand through it a bit to mix it up—otherwise the kids whose names were at the bottom would remain there, which meant the first ones to register that year would have an edge against their later-registering brethren. A moment later she unfolded a slip of paper, reading the name on the front.

"_Aveline Togisala!"_

Wes' heart stopped for a moment, and he turned towards her sister, who with a shrug and a very slouched walk, began to slowly trudge her way up to the stage. Junichi put her hand on the girl's shoulder almost reassuringly, before stepping over to the bowl with the boys' names.

"And now for the boys…" she dipped her hand into the bowl, repeating the same motions as she had for the girls before fishing out a name from the edge of the bowl. She opened it up and read it aloud.

"_Wesley Togisala!"_

Wes was not the only one who gasped. There were others in the crowd, including Vigo, who did so. Sure people had heard of siblings getting reaped in consecutive years (there were still stories about the brother and sister from District 1 who had won the 63rd and 64th Hunger Games back to back), but for siblings to be reaped in the same year? That was any parent's nightmare, because that was a positive assurance of at least one loss—often two in the outer districts.

Either way, he joined his sister on the stage. When Junichi saw him, her face dropped briefly before she forced a smile which was surely just part of Capitol protocol. Unrelated families with identical surnames existed, but it was far too obvious that Wes and Ava were related, and it hurt even the escort to know this. Still, the show had to go on.

"Ladies and Gentlemen..." Junichi cleared her throat for a moment, "your tributes from District 12 for the 91st Annual Hunger Games: Wesley and Aveline Togisala!"

Everyone, instead of clapping, raised three fingers to their lips before raising them. Even Junichi responded with this gesture. It was not so much a symbol of any type of rebellion as much as a gesture of respect for those that would not likely return. It didn't take a genius to realize that District 12 tributes were not exactly known for their vast pool of victors, though in recent years they had gained a few.

There was a moment of silence as the other families began to disperse while Wes and Ava were shunted into the large Justice Building. Vigo and that other girl whose name Wes still could not remember (he thought it started with a K, but he couldn't be sure) were speaking for a moment, before Vigo followed them inside, probably to prepare to leave. It seemed he was going alone this year.

Wes soon saw his sister and mother here—normally there were two families present, but since both tributes were form the same family, that was obviously unnecessary. Unsurprisingly, the older woman was weeping, motioning for her children to give her one last hug, which she did without hesitation, throwing her bracelet-covered arms around them. They had about 5 minutes anyways.

"I know what you're going to say, mom." Wes spoke up quietly, "Ava and I are going to be in this till the bitter end. I know we can't both come home… but you'll at least see one of us again."  
"I don't want to see one of you again!" she complained, "I want to see both of my babies."

Wesley sighed. "It's not like this was our choice." He reminded her.

"I made a promise, mom," Aveline spoke up, "I'm bringing one of us home. You'll get to see your son again." She turned to Wes, looking him right in the eye.

"You deserve it more than me." she insisted, "Dad deserves to see his son grow up. Besides… you've got much more potential and odds of winning than I do. Don't waste your energy trying to save me."  
"You know your skills as well as I do," Wes argued, "Don't pretend you're helpless."  
"I'm not," Aveline shook her head, and then sighed, turning back to her mother.

"I would give anything for something to happen right now—anything." Mrs. Togisala shook her head, "I want to be anywhere but here, and want anything but this to happen. This is a fate worse than death."  
"Naisha, no." Wes' expression tightened. When he referred to his own mother by her given name, it meant that he was turning as serious as he could be. "Don't say that. One of us is going to come home."  
Naisha sighed for a moment before taking two bracelets from her hands and putting them on her children's' arms. "Take these then," she uttered shakily. Wes' bracelet was a dark auburn color and was adorned with little suns, while Ava's was indigo and adorned with little moons.

"What are these for?" Ava tilted her head.

"Tribute tokens," Mrs. Togisala answered, "a reminder from your mother."

This seemed to be a good enough answer for both Wes and Ava. No sooner had they taken the bracelets when it came time for them to say their final goodbyes. Peacekeepers might not have been terribly strict in District 12, but they were strict enough about the schedule and so with one last goodbye hug from both Wes and Ava, they headed for the car that would take them to the train station, which in turn would mark the beginning of the end of their lives.


	2. Chapter 2: Sibling Tributes

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ Anyone who thinks that Wes, Ava, Jun, and Vigo are imitations/replacements for Peeta, Katniss, Effie, or Haymitch, I can assure you right now that this is not the case. Yes, it's about a pair of District 12 tributes with a female escort and a male mentor, but that's about where the similarities end. Enjoy._

**CHAPTER 2: Sibling Tributes  
**

Cars were rare in a country where there were high speed trains and hovercrafts, but nonetheless, there were a few, but these were usually just used to shunt tributes from the justice building to the train station. They were escorted by Peacekeepers, for it was not unheard of for some of the more impoverished tributes to try and make a run for it. It never ended well for them—ever.

Usually this was the part of the trip where the tributes would at least give their names to each other, but Wes and Ava knew each other for their entire lives, and so it was unnecessary. Instead, they both sat in reserved silence, anticipating what was surely coming ahead of them.

Soon they were on the train, and as they sat down, they finally got to meet that long-haired mentor properly this time. He was sitting at a table, running a pencil in broad strokes over a blank piece of paper. He looked up, nodding slightly as if to acknowledge them before continuing his sketching.

"So…" Wes spoke up after a moment or two, "you're our mentor then?"  
"mm." Vigo nodded affirmatively. For a moment Wes opened his mouth to say something, but instead decided to watch and see what Vigo was sketching. Surely Junichi was around as well to maybe spice things up or to get Vigo to pay attention to the tributes that he was now supposed to be training.

Ava seemed transfixed by the sketch as well.

Vigo's image soon proved to be graphic. It depicted a girl with an 8 on her shoulders and a wicked looking blade in her arm, appearing as if she had just landed from a flip, given the lines coming from his body and the blade for effect. The victim, a boy with a number 1 on his arm, had a string of blood coming from his right arm and shoulder, as if it had just been cut right off seconds ago, which is exactly what the picture was depicting.

"Scenes from your games," Wes tilted his head curiously, and this time Vigo stopped to look up.

"Aye," he nodded. His voice was a lot gentler than one would think it should be. "Some things stick with you for life, for better or for worse."  
"I know the feeling," Wes agreed, "well, sort of. I guess I should say I feel for you."  
"There are plenty of things about me you will never understand even if you emerge as the victor of the 91st Hunger Games." Vigo warned, "Although there are already things that I will not understand that you have to deal with. I did not have to kill my sister to come home."

Ava looked up. "He's not going to have to." She chipped in, "There are other ways to play the Capitol's game without us being forced to fight each other."

"Don't listen to her too much," Wes whispered to Vigo, "I'll go more into it later."

"Well then," Vigo pit his hands together and turned from Ava to Wes. "You want me to teach you? Tell me what you wish to learn."

"Everything," Wes instantly replied

"Where should I start then?" Vigo immediately retorted. He was clearly a very detail-oriented man, and Wes was beginning to catch onto this.

"How did you win again," he asked.

"I paid attention to everything." Vigo expounded, "Of course, your results may vary, based on your own thinking skills, the arena, and the other tributes, obviously, but there is your answer."  
"So what did you pay attention to?" Ava spoke up, "obviously some things are more important than others, yes?"  
"I would hope so," a soft but cheerful voice interrupted, stepping in and sitting down at the corner of the table. It was Junichi, cracking a joke. "I do not think Vigo here won by painting pictures of daisies."

Ava actually chuckled, which in turn made Wes follow suit.

Vigo cracked a smile. "Very funny, Jun," he quipped, "I won by paying attention to the sounds around me, and to the messages my body was telling me. I ate only when I knew I needed food, and kept myself hydrated semi-regularly to keep myself functioning normally. We're familiar with starvation, but when you're truly deprived of food, and especially water, it drives some kids mad."

"So food and water are obviously important then," Wes nodded, "did you have any alliances?"

"My district partner was one" Vigo clarified, "obviously since you two are brother and sister, I figure you're sticking together" He could tell that they were on very good terms with each other.

"Did you have anyone else?" Wes asked, hoping for an idea of what kinds of people were willing to side with District 12 in these games.

"The tributes from District 11 were our friends, even if we were not in a formal alliance with them. Our only other actual ally though was a boy from District 5. He died shortly after my district partner did. By that point there were only five of us left."  
He smiled approvingly at the two siblings in front of him that, while calm with their expressions, revealed with their eyes that they were clinging onto his every word.

"You want to hear the whole story then, I take it?" he looked them in the eyes, and without a word, both Wes and Ava nodded.

"Well then…" he took a drink, also grabbing some food, "sit back, get comfortable, and help yourself to some food. We've got a long ride to the Capitol anyways."  
He proceeded to start at the beginning from the moment he and 23 other children were raised from their pedestals to find themselves in the ruins of some desert city, with crumbling stone structures in every direction, surrounded by a backdrop of cliffs that likely served as the natural boundaries of the arena. One of the greatest oddities was that the tributes were all barefooted, which actually gave the outlying districts a rather prominent little advantage in the opening seconds. The hot, rocky ground was harsh on the feet, although tributes from the outlying districts, who often went barefoot in their own lines of work, fared just fine and many of them did not even grab some of the numerous boots that sat in the cornucopia.

"The kids from District 11 took off with two backpacks before the careers could even reach them. '10, '11, and '12 all survived the bloodbath that day, thanks to our lack of shoes." He chuckled at the irony. Only one of the careers had died on the first day—the girl from District 1.

Vigo continued to describe his experiences, noting that there had to be water sources somewhere around there. All cities, no matter how old, were built near some sort of water source.

"We found numerous dry lakebeds and riverbeds, many of which were nice and flat. The sand was a lot more lenient on our feet than the sharp, jagged rocks. It was surprisingly not a very hot desert, but there was no water to be found.  
Nightfall came, and the clear night suddenly and quickly clouded up, and then… rain. We managed to fill our bottles, but the next morning when we checked to see if any of the lakes or rivers had filled, we just found damp ground. There were 14 of us left at this point."

After exploring another of the ruined villages that day, Vigo and his two friends found these odd cemented bowl-like structures in the ground that were holding water in them.

"Unless your arena is a lake of some sort, always try and camp next to some water source, but also try to stay hidden. Trees, shrubs, rocks, or even old structures if they exist, are good places to start." He pointed out. The others, including Junichi, had stayed silent this whole time, listening with interest.

"Day 14 is when things really started heating up." he continued, "by that point there were 5 of us left. It was a drought, and we had all but exhausted the water supplies in our bowls. That day there was the biggest monsoon I have ever seen in my life. We made the dire mistake of walking through one of those dry riverbeds. It flooded, and we were carried downstream. The worst of our luck was when we passed the careers—the girl from '2 knifed my partner with a lucky shot, and the boy from '5 ended up triggering a trap set by a District 11 boy a few days prior that somehow still worked. Well… when I finally washed up on shore, another cannon went off, which left just me and that girl from District 2. I'm fairly certain that we hated each other's guts from the get-go, but long story short, we fought and I won."

"So don't trust District 2 then," Wes shrugged after the story.

"I wouldn't." Vigo replied, "But after telling such a story, I need a little nap. I'll be up in a few hours."

"Alright," Wes and Ava both nodded, watching their mentor—their lifeline in the games, get up and disappear into his compartment.

"So, always follow the water, and avoid District 2," Wes turned to his sister, "seems simple enough." Of course, he knew that simple did not mean easy—nothing that involved death was ever an easy thing.


	3. Chapter 3: Leaving Home

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _In the which we learn a bit about that enigmatic escort, Junichi Thatch. Not all of the Capitol citizens are sick sadistic pricks, you know. Also, I have actually played the dice game that Vigo and Ava play, although it and the rules are irrelevant to the story._

**CHAPTER 3: Leaving Home**

With Vigo retiring to his quarters for the time being, Wes' attention turned to Junichi.

"So I guess we can get to know each other a bit more too, right?" he chuckled, trying to hide the mood that would naturally come with being thrown into a death tournament alongside his own sister.

"You're not going to dismiss me as some ditzy oblivious Capitol buffoon?" Jun chuckled, "well, I like you already, boy. Last year's tributes were not exactly happy with me, you know."  
"Oh?" Wes tilted his head as Ava put her own head into her arms after pushing her empty plate away. Well, he figured he could discredit Jun's remark about not being oblivious. If she did not realize what she was part of, then she did not understand why it was so hard on the tributes.

"Well, they acted like it was my fault that the Hunger Games existed—like I was there 91 years ago when it all happened. I don't look 91… do I?"

Ava peeked up, glanced over at the escort and her dark blue hair and sharp navy blue jacket, before shaking her head approvingly and lying back down.

"Good, good," Junichi heaved a fake little sigh of relief, "Because I'm not even half that age."  
"So how do you feel about…" he shrugged, "you know—celebrating the death of several children?"  
It was a very deep question, and if certain people had heard the question, terrible things might have happened in return. However, Junichi was much more reasonable than that.

"I will be honest," she lowered her voice. "There is an entertainment value to it for someone whose people and family will never have to suffer such a fate. However, many years it hurts to see tributes that I fell in love with get slaughtered in the arena."  
This was rather profound news for Wes to hear from someone of Capitol stature. Such things might have gotten the woman killed if she uttered it in the wrong presence.

"Admittedly, there are other tributes that I am indifferent towards because of their dislike towards me," Jun continued, her voice brightening again, "but I can safely and honestly say that I end up loving most of the tributes, and I am right alongside District 12 hoping that one of them returns as a victor. I think you and your sister might have what it takes."

"What makes you say that?" Wes tilted his head curiously, wondering what she saw in him or Ava that made her think they were victor material.

"you have a unique sense of determination about you." The escort explained, "Obviously it must be so hard on your parents right now, the poor souls. You know, grieving the loss of a child is a process. It begins the day the child passes, and ends the day the parent joins them."

"That… is rather profound," Wes' eyes widened, "where'd you hear that."  
"We have children just as you do," Junichi reminded him, "surely you did not think that we were spawned from a factory or something, did you?"

"Well, with how garish some of you look, it wouldn't surprise me," Wes tried his hand at a joke of his own, hopping that it didn't offend.

"Come now," the escort took it in stride, "I don't look THAT bad, do I?"  
"Nah, the darks really suit you." He admitted, expressing his own personal opinion on the matter. "But you didn't answer my question. Where did you hear that phrase?"

Junichi shook her head, sighing softly. "Let's just say that the districts are not the only ones with mothers who lose children."  
Wes' eyes widened for a brief moment and he frowned. This explained so much, and even Aveline looked up from her slumber in shock, giving Wes a look.

"Did she just say…" she whispered, and Wes nodded.

"I'm so sorry," Wes apologized, now feeling terrible for bringing it up.

"If nothing else," Jun responded, "it made me enjoy life more—it made me more understanding of you tributes. This is why I want you to win. I want to minimize my losses as well."  
"Your losses?" he tilted his head again. "Do you really bond with tributes like that?"  
"I try to, but I'm only human as well." She chuckled, pouring herself a cup of tea, "I do like you and your sister, however. If there is anything I can help you with, let me know." She gave them her somewhat cheesy little "Hunger Games" smile, as a lot of the locals from '12 called it: a big, ear-to-ear grin that was probably forced and/or shameless.

"What can we expect when we reach the Capitol? How long does it take to get there, by the way?"

"We'll be there tomorrow around 10:30, I believe. And there is a lot to expect when you reach the Capitol. After we get there you'll get to meet the stylists. I think you'll like them. After the parade and a good night's rest, it'll be off to the training center for you. I'm sure when Vigo wakes up he can tell you more about what to do then."

As much as she knew about the Capitol where she had grown up, Junichi was not too familiar with the procedures and protocols of the training center other than the apartments where the escorts, mentors, and stylists also stayed at. Vigo on the other hand, would know them firsthand from his own experiences about a decade earlier.

Wes glanced over at Ava and saw her face buried in her arms, He lifted some of her messy black waves and saw the side of her face. Her eye was closed, and she was out cold.

"Alright," he nodded at Junichi's remarks, "thanks. And may the odds be ever in our favor."

Junichi got up and left for her compartment as the train ride continued into the late afternoon. Wes leaned back and gazed out at the now setting sun, looking out the opposite window eastward towards where District 12 stood. It was somewhat haunting to know that one or both of them were never going to see that place again. He decided to rest up a little bit since Vigo and Ava were both asleep and Jun was off doing whatever it was she was doing. He leaned his head back, sighing, and fell asleep.

The sun was completely gone by the time he woke back up, and he saw Ava and Vigo throwing dice.

"Acha," Vigo shook his head as Ava threw a 4 and a 3, "20-14 your favor." He grabbed the dice, threw them, and passed them to Ava, who did the same. It was a fairly quick-paced game, with the only pauses being when one of them threw double 1s (where they lost a point) or when they threw 7 or 11.

"Oh hey Wes," Ava noticed her brother as she threw an 11. "21-14, and game; did you sleep well?"

"Yup," he shrugged, smacking his lips, "and you?"  
"Of course," she nodded, "Vigo wanted to talk with us as soon as you woke up. We were just playing dice in the meantime."  
"So what'd you want to talk about," Wes scratched his head as he turned towards Vigo, rolling his shoulders before shifting back comfortably into his seat.

"I just wanted to make sure you two are up to snuff with how things go before the arena. Did Junichi tell you two anything about what to expect or anything worthwhile?"  
"She told us that she lost a child," Wes blurted out before moving his hand to his mouth as if to retract what he had said.

"Ah, yes. I do know about that." Vigo nodded somberly, "but what I want you to know, before we start, is that Junichi is a good woman. Now, I'm obviously on your side and not the Capitol's, but obviously you know that not all of them are like that—most of them are simply oblivious. I think that whatever happened to Jun's child made her able to relate a bit more to what parents feel; and she doesn't want to see anyone suffer that more than is absolutely necessary. Now, I'm sure you're both thinking why the hell she doesn't just tell them to stop the 'Games. If it was that easy, it would have probably happened 15 years ago or something. Anyways, long story short—she's really rooting for you."  
"That's all the more reason we need your help, Vigo." Wes insisted, "Everything else you think would be useful for us to know—tell us everything."  
"I promise I will." He reassured them, since he had already told them his success story. "But remember, I don't know the tributes any more than you do at this point. Anything I am able to pick up, however, I'll be sure to share with the two of you."

"Is there anything you can tell us at this point?" Wes repeated  
"just the usual—stay alive." Vigo warned, "at this point, you might as well get some sleep. Your compartments are down that hall across from each other.

Ava and Wes slowly pulled themselves up and bade each other and Vigo a goodnight before reaching their rooms. Tomorrow, the real fun would begin…


	4. Chapter 4: Into the Capitol

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Even in this alternate universe where the 2nd rebellion never happened, Katniss Everdeen still exists and actually still managed to win a Hunger Games. However, She and the stories behind her and her 'games are not terribly important to this plot, so don't think about them too hard.  
_

**CHAPTER 4: Into the Capitol**

Maybe it was because of his nap, but Wes found himself unable to sleep for a while after he had dressed for bed and climbed in. The bed itself was more comfortable than anything he had ever slept on in his life, and he had heard that the amenities in the apartments they would be staying in were even better than the train, which made sense. He opened the window and still saw the desolate landscape whiz past him as they soared towards the Capitol at remarkable speeds. Wes had no idea how trains worked, but knew that this was the work of District 6 for sure.

He grabbed a remote on a nearby nightstand, and flipped on the TV that was on the wall across from the bed. There wasn't much to watch, but those who were not squeamish could rewatch old footage of the Hunger Games to observe different arena possibilities or behaviors of tributes. It was not exactly a delightful thing to watch, but there was something to be gained from it all.

He watched Vigo's Hunger Games, and saw him and that girl from District 2 square off. She brandished a pair of hammers, while all Vigo had was a handaxe. They fought, with the smaller boy taking the defensive for a while and acting weak and exhausted, while in reality, he was looking for an opening and stalling in the meantime. When he found on, he landed the axe in her chest, dropping her into the river, which strangely did not seem to be flowing as wildly as it had been moments before.

Wes jumped backwards to another game a few years earlier, where District 12's other victor had been crowned the victor—the 3rd Quarter Quell. The twist that year had been that the tributes selected were between the ages of 17 and 25. District 12 had shone this year, where ironically, the victor it produced was a girl of 17 who had volunteered no less. As Wes saw her in action, he remembered clearly who this was. Some called her "Black Death" because of the clothes she wore and because of how lethal she had been during the games. Disappearing into the dense foliage of that year's arena, this Katniss Everdeen essentially went around sniping tributes with a powerful bow, and did so more or less with impunity. She was good—very good. Wes sort of wished she had come with them, but he would make do with Vigo for now. The man knew what he was doing after all, having emerged from the 'games alive himself.

Watching both Vigo and Katniss win a Hunger Games took a good couple of hours, and he only watched the highlights of each one, before he drifted off. Capitol Technology was good enough that a few minutes after Wes was asleep the TV shut itself off to prevent waking him up with the sounds of Hunger Games footage. It was a bit ironic—the Capitol cared everything for their tributes, pampering them and catering to their every need and (reasonable) whim, up until they were thrown into the arena. From then on out, they were on their own. They did love their victors though.

Surprisingly, he felt awake and refreshed when he woke up the next morning. Now that it was morning, he decided to look around at the once dark room that was now lit up with the rays of sun. It was a cozy little place with its own private washroom, and upon further examination, he noticed it even had a shower. Well, he figured that if he was going to appear in front of Capitol citizens even for a brief period of time as he and his team walked from the train to the Tribute Tower, that he might as well at least look and smell presentable, instead of like dirt and game like many District 12 tributes did, especially those who snuck out and hunted at nights.

Wes stripped down and tried out the shower. Moments later his body was covered with a variety of colorful substances that amused and intrigued him. He knew they were not toxic or harmful, because they wouldn't booby trap the tributes like that.

A few minutes later, he emerged from the weird colorful shower and dried off, smelling and feeling much cleaner and better. His skin was a little bit lighter, although more than that, was no longer spotted with dirt. He found some new and comfortable clothes in the dresser and put them on. Other than their cleanliness, they looked just like the kind of attire one would find in District 12. That was mighty convenient in his opinion.

Now clean and dressed, Wes stepped out into the hall towards the dining car to go get some breakfast. He wondered if Ava was up, but her absence at the table meant she was still sleeping. It did feel a bit early, but there was Junichi all fully dressed in those dark blues again. He wondered how long it took her to get ready in the mornings, but didn't bother asking.

"Top of the morning to you," she beamed. "You figured out the showers correctly, it looks like."

"I did," Wes chuckled, and paused as he heard a shriek of surprise. Moments later, Ava stumbled out of her room wearing a towel and dripping wet.

"How the HELL do those showers work?" she stammered, "Why is everything purple?"

"That's normal, Ava," Wes laughed, "relax."  
She shook her head, blushing behind her dark-skinned face and disappeared back into her room.

"Good show." Vigo quipped, referring to her reaction rather than state of undress.

"I'll say," Wes agreed, "okay, I admit that it made me jump a little when I first saw it, but after I realized that it wasn't flesh-eating acid, I decided it was fine."

"Well," Junichi piped up, "you best be getting some breakfast soon. We shall be arriving in the Capitol within the next hour or so."

Wes filled his plate without hesitation, eating his fill for one of the first times in his life. He was joined by a messy-haired but clean and dressed Ava a few minutes later, who quietly ate alongside him. The back of Wes' mind was preoccupied with concern for his sister. Of the two, he was obviously the larger and stronger one, and he had a bit more charm than her too. She was not much of a talker, and the Capitol found it hard to relate with tributes who could not at least be appealing in one way or another. Quiet ones could get away with showing off combat abilities, and sometimes even if one did not do well with weapons, their charm and good looks could earn them enough sponsorship gifts to pull out a win.

It was for these reasons that he feared for Ava. She wouldn't stand a chance, he was pretty sure. He knew that he could not ever fully abandon his sister, but he decided that he wanted to watch out more for himself in the 'games, so that their mother could at least see one of her children again.

"Ah, there it is!" Junichi sighed happily, glancing out the window. Wes and Ava both turned around and saw the monstrously sprawling Capitol for the first time. Admittedly, they were in awe at the size and beauty of the place, even if it represented their oppression.

The siblings were transfixed by it until the train gradually pulled to a stop. This was the point of no return. Once they stepped off that train, the Capitol would get their first view of this year's tributes from District 12.

"Chins up; smiles on;" Junichi beamed. "This is where you make your first impressions. Try to wave; be friendly." It was easier said than done, Wes thought. He was pretty sure that Ava was just as anxious about the whole thing as he was.

They stepped off the train and into the bright light of the Capitol afternoon. There were enthusiastic cheers and chants, even for District 12, which was still often considered the laughingstock of Panem. Shyly, Wes and Ava smiled and waved a little, glancing on either side of them as they made their way to the Tribute Tower. Once they were inside, Jun explained that this would be where they lived for the next week or so during training. Both siblings leaned against the wall of the elevator as it went up—neither one had ridden an elevator before; it did give them something of motion sickness.

When they got to the apartment, they once again found themselves awestruck at how much more magnificent it was than anything back home.

"Well…" the escort beamed at them. "Make yourselves at home."  
Ava nodded and took to one of the sofas, kicking off her shoes and stretching her bare feet in the process. Wes sat down near her, although stayed silent, still trying to take everything in. 24 hours ago he had been stepping up to the stage after hearing his and his sister's name called. Now, here he was in the Capitol itself, basking in its splendor as they prepped him up to become a murderer. Frankly, it felt more surreal than anything else, and he was still unable to wrap his mind around it all…


	5. Chapter 5: Diamonds in the Rough

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _I am aware of a potential scientific fact that a part of this chapter might contradict. However, I do not think that the Capitol worries much about that when styling a tribute's parade costume, and so neither will I._

**CHAPTER 5: Diamonds in the Rough**

After a moment of watching the siblings get comfortable, Junichi spoke up. "Your room is on the left, Aveline; and Wesley, yours is on the right. If you need Vigo or I for anything tonight, we are down that hall. Everything else should be fairly easy to figure out. Don't go far though—Amadeus and Celine will be arriving soon to dress you up for tonight." She motioned her hand towards her and Vigo's hall as to where she would be, before walking in that direction, the 'clip-clop' of her high-heeled shoes growing fainter as she disappeared.

"Welp," Ava turned to her brother, "this is it, I guess, eh?"  
"Part of me feels like this is just a really bad and weird dream that I am going to wake up from," Wes admitted, "I'm still in disbelief about the reapings. I mean, it's one thing to get reaped, but for a brother and sister to both get reaped in the same year just blows my mind."

"They definitely try to butter us up" Ava insisted, "glaze over the fact that this is the death of several children that they are celebrating. Look around you."

Wes realized that Ava had a point. The lavish trains, the delicious food, the extravagant living quarters and soon the wild and exquisite costumes—all of it led to the glamorization of children who would all be dead within a couple of weeks—all but one, and Wes had a sinking feeling that it would not be him or Ava returning to see their family again.

"They're not all bad people though." Wes insisted, "I know that doesn't make it right, but if we blame them all, then we'd be no better than the Capitol blaming every District for what a bunch of dead people did 91 years ago."

"I know." Ava nodded, "I don't really want to think about it too much. I'm interested in meeting the stylists though." She did not even have any idea of what to predict that they would dress her in. Clothing and fashion were not exactly high on District 12'sm priority list. Hygiene wasn't either, although up until earlier when they had showered, Wes and Ava had possessed a distinct smell that Junichi had tried to ignore, even if it was perfectly normal to smell that way in the district.

They did not have to wait long, and soon two individuals appeared that struck the siblings as rather odd—at least compared to what they were used to back home. Both were dressed in loose, silky purple clothing. Their skin was a natural (light) color, and their feet were bare. The purple hair and electric blue eyes were supposedly just more of the modifications that the Capitol liked to apply to their bodies, although all in all, Wes wasn't disappointed. The only thing that really stood out as genuinely unusual was that their ears were long and pointed, but that was a minor thing he could live with.

"Wesley and Aveline is it?" One of them, presumably the male, stepped forward. It was hard to tell them apart because both of them had matching waist-length hair. This one had a deeper voice and was slightly less curvy, however, so Wes assumed this must be Amadeus.

Celine stepped forward as well, and the two stylists introduced themselves appropriately. Both of them seemed rather surprised at the striking resemblance that Wes and Ava held.

"I've never seen two tributes look so close." Celine exclaimed, though Ava cut her off and cleared up the mystery then and there.

"We're siblings." She quipped rather bluntly. For a moment there was a bout of hushed silence as their mouths and eyes widened. The idea did not seem to sit well with them either, even if they had technically watched the reapings as well.

"Well," Amadeus smiled at them a moment later after collecting his emotions, "let us be off then. We have much to do to prepare the two of you for tonight. I think we will be able to make this spectacular."

"Are we gonna match?" Ava asked as they descended to an underground level that looked like a cross between a dressing room, a studio, and an operating room. Here, Wes and Ava parted ways, with Amadeus taking Wes one way and Celine taking Ava the other.

"It's rather possible." Celine did not seem to want to give away the secret just yet. Ava groaned. "My momma used to make us match when we were younger."  
"Well…" Celine smiled, "know that whatever we end up doing, you should like it. Now, undress for me and step into there," she motioned towards what looked like a metallic shower.

Ava seemed a little apprehensive at first, but after noticing that Celine was doing her own thing rather than watching her, she stripped down and did as she was told. After a brief shower, she was laid down on what she could only describe as an operating table.

"What happens here?" she was confused, and felt slightly awkward given that she was still naked.

"We just clean you up here," she explained, and shortly set to work. To cut a long story short, Soon Ava's skin was smooth and clean and devoid of any body hair, which most of District 12 had simply because they had no real reason to shave it. She could only assume that Wes was getting the same treatment.

"Now comes the best part," the stylist grinned, helping Ava to her feet. "Follow me."  
Celine led the young girl into the studio portion, and there in front of them was a pile of fabric with flames coming off of it. Naturally, the teen was skeptical.

"Uh… I think someone set it on fire?" she tilted her head as Celine began doing up Ava's hair.

"That's supposed to happen," Celine chuckled softly, "it's not real fire, but it's a very close lookalike that was perfected a few years ago. Go ahead—put it on. It won't hurt."

Apprehensively, Ava pulled on the outfit in front of her and after donning some similar shoes, she glanced at herself in the mirror. The outfit was rather form-fitting, and was black with the dull reflective luster of coal. Ava could instantly see the connection here.

"Burning coal;" she looked skeptical once again, but instead of responding, Celine handed her a small switch with a single button in the middle, helping the girl attach it to her waist.

"Wait about 30 seconds after you first appear on the square, and then hit the switch." She assured the tribute, "and then you will see the true intent of this outfit. I would explain it more clearly, but I don't want to spoil the surprise!" she gave a hearty little chuckle as Ava stared at herself in the mirror.

"What's Amadeus putting Wes in?" she asked.

"Now that you're dressed, I'll admit," Celine indicated, "you will match him. Don't let that discourage you though. Now, let's go meet up with them, shall we?"  
The stylist offered her hand, and Ava took it, being led out the other end of the studio. Sure enough, Wes matched her, and the two glanced at each other, their thin forms still being rather revealed because of the snugness of their costumes. Everything was modestly covered except their heads and hands despite this though.

They were soon led to where the chariots were waiting, and here they finally got to catch an early glimpse of their competition—they definitely had their work cut out for them as they nervously glanced around at the other tributes. Even the kids from District 11 seemed fairly confident, but District 11 had had a history of very competent mentors for years now. The careers all looked intimidating as usual—the girl from District 2 was at least as tall as her partner and was clearly at least 6 feet tall. Even the rather diminutive tributes from Districts 3 and 4 looked rather ruthless. Time would tell.

There was no time to interact though, because shortly after the tributes had boarded the chariots, the doors opened, and out went District 1, followed by District 2, and so on. As soon as the District 12 chariot began moving, Wes turned to Ava.

"Did Celine give you a switch?" he whispered.

"Yup," she nodded, "Did Amadeus give you one?"

He nodded slowly. For a moment they stood stoically, the flames on their outfits intensifying as they continued. About halfway through the trip, they flipped the switches, and suddenly they burst into (fake) flames for a split second, before the flames died away. Ava and Wes were not the only ones in awe upon seeing each other now. Gone were the flames and coal-esque appearance, and their outfits were now studded with glittering stones—diamonds (or at least imitations).

This bolstered the young tribute pair's confidence rather significantly, and they held their hands up triumphantly as the Capitol audiences cheered loudly in their direction. Perhaps they weren't as unexciting as they had first thought.

Wes smiled at the thought, and kept this streak of confidence high as the ride slowly continued to make its way down the square to the President's balcony. He and Ava had left a good first impression, and he was now under the impression that they might actually stand a chance to get noticed. Perhaps the odds were leaning in their favor after all.


	6. Chapter 6: The Girl from District Two

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_This chapter serves primarily to give us a glimpse of one of the mysterious __other __tributes that will be participating in this year's 'games. Obviously there will be further time for extended development as the story progresses._

**CHAPTER 6: The Girl from District Two**

Within a few minutes, the cheering had died down, and the 12 chariots all lined up in a semicircle around a balcony, where out emerged the man behind the malice—President Coriolanus Snow himself. He seemed to have aged well over all these years, but then again, few outside of perhaps District 3 understood the true power and extent of Capitol technology. Wes was still fairly certain that the Capitol's technology dwarfed District 3's; just as its luxuries outdid District 1's, and its military might outdid District 2's, and so on; so forth.

Wes expected him to give a long, glorious speech about how wonderful the Capitol was or the glory of the Hunger Games or something, but instead, his speech was short and simple.

"Welcome to the 91st Annual Hunger Games." He said in his usual calm but commanding tone. "And may the odds be ever in your favor."

The fanfare began again and the chariots began rolling again. Wes barely noticed that tall girl from District 2 leaning over and whispering something to her partner, but considering that there were nine chariots between them, there was no way he would be able to tell what it was.

Still, once back in the training center, there was always a chance to cross paths with another tribute or two in an elevator. They met back up with Vigo, who led them to an empty car and hit the '12' button. Right before the door closed though, two very different-sized girls stepped in. One of them was that squat but slim girl from District 4, and the other was the tall girl from District 2. Wes and Ava immediately felt a bit awkward, while Vigo just tried to act casual.

"4 please," the short girl requested, and Ava, who was closest to the buttons, pressed it for her.

"So… District 12, is it?" the taller girl asked rhetorically. Wes nodded.

"The name's Chel; District 2." She extended her hand. Wes ignored it, but Ava mentally shrugged and then shook it anyways. "Aveline, District 12." She introduced herself softly but firmly.

After the girl from '4 got off at her landing, the elevator continued upwards, and Wes noticed that the 'R' (rooftop) button was still lit. It looked like they'd be riding with her the rest of the way.

"It's good to see at least one of you has some decency." She retorted, "I like you, Aveline. Tell these others to lighten up or something. I would have thought those glitzy outfits would do the job."

Ava looked back down and remembered that she was still covered in diamond-like patterns that were glittery and frankly, in her eyes, quite beautiful.

When the elevator stopped at the 12th floor, Vigo, Ava, and Wes all got off, and Chel waved goodbye to Ava, also using Vigo's name. Most tributes knew most of the recent victors.

"Danger, danger, danger," Vigo shook his head and waved his hands dismissively. "If that girl didn't have "I'm going to kill you so hard" written all over her face, I don't know what does."  
"She seemed pretty friendly to me," Ava shrugged, staring intently at her glittering shoes.

"There will be plenty of people that come off as friendly, and some of them might actually mean it," Vigo reminded them, "but remember—there is only one victor, and so as much as I hate to say it—there may come a time when even you two have to become enemies."  
"Don't be so sure," Wes challenged, "even if the Gamemakers do nothing, it's not like we have to go down fighting each other to the death. It could just be a clean kill—but that's not going to happen."  
"At least you still hold something of a positive outlook, kid." Vigo indicated, "I lost that kind of hope years ago. All I'm saying is to beware of anyone who calls you a friend, and only ally with people you can trust. You'll have plenty of time to learn who is who by the time tomorrow rolls around. Otherwise, I suggest that the both of you get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

Wes nodded, and went into his room to dress for bed. The process was relatively swift, and after washing the makeup from his face, he stepped back out to see if he could find Ava. She was not in her room, but a quick trip to the nearby balcony pinpointed the girl, still in the rather snug, glittery parade costume. She was gazing out at the Capitol lights, some of which reflected off of her outfit alongside the moonlight, making her quite a dazzling little spectacle in contrast with her brown skin and loose, curly black hair. She turned towards Wes when she heard him, her eyes almost glimmering in the moonlight alongside her outfit.

"Hey," he muttered, lowering his head. "Sorry about that girl—I just don't want to see her put an axe through you in the opening seconds of the games."

"I understand your concern," Ava nodded softly, "but think of what it'd be like to get her as an ally; she's probably good at everything."  
"That's the problem with strong allies though," Wes reminded her, "eventually they have to turn on you whether they like it or not, and you can bet that that career girl is going to do so swiftly and ruthlessly when that time comes, or earlier."

"I know…" Ava shrugged, "but I'd almost rather die quickly at the hands of an ally turning on me than have to spend the last days of my life running and hiding and staying awake all night in fear of an ambush or something—or worse, die in the bloodbath."

"That makes sense," Wes agreed, "just that District 2… come on; that's just suicidal."  
Ava simply shrugged again. "we've got a week to find out."  
"Fair enough," Wes put his arm around his sister's shoulder and gave her a little squeeze. "love ya, sis. Don't stay up all night in fear. There aren't any career tributes coming to hunt you down up here."

"Alright; goodnight, Wes." She smiled, and watched as her brother disappeared.

Once she was certain that Wes was back in her room, she raced towards the hall and the elevator, and quickly went up to the rooftop, in hopes that that girl would still be there.

To her delight and relief, she was, although she suddenly felt apprehensive about approaching a girl that was easily at least a foot taller than her. She stood at about 6'5" and 182 pounds—very fit and tall.

She jumped when she heard the girl's voice though.

"Nice costume," Chel chuckled. Ava looked down and realized she was still in the exotic attire from the parade earlier and blushed a little in the dim moonlight.

"So," the larger girl continued, "was it my feminine charm that drew you back to me, or was it fear and admiration? Don't worry; I won't laugh."  
"Curiosity," Ava admitted, "I thought the career tributes hated Districts 11 and 12 and such."  
"Most of 'em do," Chel nonchalantly shrugged. "but to say that we're all these militaristic and bloodthirsty freaks would be like saying that District 12 is full of nothing but starving little twerps who are little more than bloodbath fodder."  
"Hey!" Ava sounded offended, "give us SOME credit."  
"Will you do the same for District 2 then?" Chel instantly retorted.

"I can't say the same about your partner, but I can at least hear you out then."  
"I can't say I liked the cold shoulder your friend and mentor gave me."

"Hey, Wes is just looking out for me like any good brother would."

Chel paused, turning around to look the smaller tribute in the eyes. "He's your brother?"

"Yeah," Ava sighed, looking down dejectedly,

"Well, I can't say that I like him the way I like you—but if it's any consolation, I'll try to avoid killing him if I can. I mean, that only goes so far, y'know. Hunger Games and all."

"What are you going to do tomorrow during training?" Ava asked,

"I'll come find you if you want. Don't worry—I won't be killing anyone before the 'games begin."

"What will the other say?" Ava sounded curious.

"What others?" Chel tilted her head, "the other careers? Who gives a damn what they say? Who gives a damn what your brother says? You don't need people to approve of your alliances—you just need to make sure you outlive them."  
"So why are you so interested in me?" she asked

"You're cute, for one," Chel squeezed Ava's much smaller hand, "but you remind me of someone I once knew. It's a long story involving a girl and a bet."

"What girl and what bet—hey!" Ava squealed as she felt her feet pulled from the ground. She suddenly found herself in Chel's arms, with the larger girl laughing down at her and walking back towards the halls and the elevator.

"Get some sleep, kiddo—we can talk more, tomorrow morning, unless you discover that I'm actually a ruthless murderer or something."

Once in the elevator, Chel set Ava back on her feet as she dropped her off on the 12th floor and she disappeared down towards floor 2. Ava quickly stripped and went to bed, falling asleep quickly, and ironically, happily. Chel, of all people, had left an impact on the younger girl.


	7. Chapter 7: The Tributes

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ this chapter is also to help introduce some of the many other colorful tributes that will be participating in this year's games. Some of them may also reference various random past 'games, and will help set the stage for what the current Hunger Games culture entails._

**CHAPTER 7: The Tributes**

Wes woke up the next morning fairly early, as he was used to doing back home, and found a set of black clothing with a red and grey stripe on each side waiting for him on the dresser—obviously this year's uniform for the Training Center. The only thing that set his apart from all the others was that there was a large number 12 on each of his shoulders. He put it on and soon went out into the dining room to find Avoxes bringing in fresh breakfast. Becoming an Avox—that was probably the only thing worse than being reaped into the Hunger Games—a silent, enslaved fate worse than death. That was something Wes wished upon no one, not even the most vicious of career tributes. He did not see Vigo or Jun present, but was greeted by Celine and Amadeus.

"There you are," the latter smiled, "we almost started wondering. Your sister was in and out at least an hour ago."  
"Where did she go?" he exclaimed

"The training center, of course," Celine chuckled. There was not really anywhere else Ava could have gone without making a scene and getting in trouble. "A lot of tributes try to start early to get a chance at training without garnering unwanted attention from the others."

It seemed motivating enough for Wes, and so he ate quickly and made his way to the training center's basement, where he noticed only about 7 other tributes. Among them were both of the tributes from Districts 2 and 4; a girl from District 7, a boy from District 10, and Ava. The latter of these was watching a large girl wielding a battleaxe in each hand, fighting off swarms of holographic targets. She was strong, fast, and the way she spun her weapons made her footwork look almost like a dance. One attack led to another, and holograms exploded left and right as she landed killing blows on each one.

It seemed the girl had an audience, for even the little tributes from District 4 watched her, as did the girl from '7. Wes joined in on this, also catching Ava's attention.

"How early did you wake up?" he chuckled.

"I've been here a couple hours," she explained, "Chel was showing me some tricks."

"Who's Chel—oh." He frowned. Clearly the idea of his sister befriending a tribute from District 2 was not something that sat well with him.

"Here's a question," he continued, "If somehow, you and Chel are the last two tributes, and she somehow submits—will you be able to kill her?"  
"Every victor is a murderer, Wes," Ava shook her head; "we're in this room to learn how to become murderers. There is no sugar-coating it."  
"You've been listening to '2 too much, haven't you?" Wes sighed  
"Are you saying she's wrong?" Ava argued, "Tell me—what else are we here for?"

"Hey, hey," a voice from in front of them chanted. The girl had put away her battleaxes and approached them, "let's not try to stir ourselves up for the 'games just yet. We've got another week or so before we're tossed into the arena."  
She paused, noticing Wes again. "I'd introduce myself, but my reception was rather cold last time."  
Ava let out a little chuckle. "Chel, if I had talent like you did, I'd win these games within a week!"  
"Maybe I will," she shrugged with a chuckle.

"Ava, stop this," Wes interfered, taking her hand.

"Are you her keeper, boy?" Chel quipped.

"I'm her brother." He insisted. "And I have to at least try to get one of us home and to keep us safe for as long as is reasonably possible."

"Let your sister make her own decisions," Chel insisted, "She's a big girl."

"I could say the same to you." Wes retorted.

"I'm not telling her to do anything, least of all trust me." the taller girl chuckled, "She asked me to show her a few tricks and tips, and so I did. We had arranged to meet here about two hours ago."

They were drawing an audience, which was making Wes and Ava a little uncomfortable.

"Are you pulling 12's chain or something, Chel?" A boy with a 2 on his shoulders raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe I'm pulling yours, Chaco," she winked, using the boy's name, or maybe I'm just playing. It *is* called the Hunger Games after all, and if it doesn't bring you glory, gold, or giggles, what's the point?"

Chaco dismissively chuckled and shook his head. "Zaffre and Lazuli said they'd be down for the usual gang; you in?"  
"Don't talk so loud," she joked, "you'll frighten the others."  
During this time, Wes had pulled Ava aside.

"See," he pointed out, "she's totally just setting you up."

"Wes, you're not getting it." Ava shook her head, "The odds are stacked against us. Look at those tributes… they're insane." He pointed towards where the kids from District 4 were—the boy was carrying a giant mace, while the girl was swinging a scythe that was longer than she was. When Wes caught their eyes, the girl paused, licking the blade of her weapon almost tauntingly, before going back to her activities. On the other hand, Chaco was speaking to Chel again, and he heard the boy chant a familiar phrase that he had heard a few times before.

"_May the odds make it true that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way, that your body goes into shock and you don't feel anything as you die."_

Chel in turn laughed at the remark, and Chaco laughed with her. Ava remembered hearing this phrase, but her curiosity got the best of her, and so she stepped away from Wes to ask Chel where they had gotten it from.

"Who invented that phrase?" she blurted out, approaching the rather intimidating boy, but migrating towards Chel in reality.

"The one I just chanted?" Chaco tilted his head curiously. "The story from '2 goes that it came from a victor girl from District 11 about 50 years ago or so."  
"So how did it get popular in District 2?" she asked them; not directing it to either of them in particular. "And I guess how has it stayed popular for so long?"  
"Well now it's a Panem-wide thing," Chel laughed, "one of our mentors who was about that girl's age heard her say it, and he liked it, and it caught on among us careers as an in-joke. District 6 helped spread it, and I think your district did too. By the 2nd Quarter Quell, I think all but two or three districts were saying it, and those came within the next couple years."

By this point, Wes had gone back to his training over at the survival station where kids from the poorer districts tended to fare better. He was not quite ready to dismiss Ava as a lost cause, but he knew that she was getting involved with the wrong crowd. He groaned inaudibly as he noticed a pair of tributes from District 1 and a girl from District 3 appear, and they were talking to the other careers.

"So she just comes up and talks to you, Chaco?" the girl from '1 exclaimed.

"I like this kid a little," Chaco grinned, "she's got some gall—most of them shit themselves even looking at us—her partner kinda did that and ran off I think."  
Wes gripped the stick he was holding particularly tightly at that moment, but there was nothing he felt he could do against those mighty Career Tributes, who seemed to have already skillfully ensnared his sister. He continued working at the various stations, watching as Ava followed them around and tried her hand at a few things. He listened closely for anything that might bring up more red flags, but most of them seemed more impressed that she had the audacity to mingle with them instead of anyone else. That took courage, even if at the back of most of their minds, they were definitely planning on killing her first if they formed an alliance that would have to eventually be broken.  
After a while, lunch time came, and by then, even the latest tribute had been there for at least a couple of hours. Kids loaded their plates and trays up with food, particularly those from the outer districts, who had never eaten a full meal in their lives. Wes sat near the tributes from District 11, who he learned were named Florence and Ginger, while the careers all sat together. '1 and '2 were closest, but '3 and '4 were also nearby. The outlying cause was that little Ava was sitting at the end of their table with them, right beside Chel, who seemed to have taken the smaller girl under her wing in an odd sort of way.  
District 11 seemed friendly enough this year, although Wes still thought it was too early to be making friends, and could not get his mind off of how recklessly foolish Ava was being right now with her supposed little dream of joining the Careers. He had to find a way to get that idea out of her head before they decided that she knew too much or something—he needed to talk to Vigo.


	8. Chapter 8: Twelve and Two

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _This is sort of a philosophical chapter. Vigo, Ava, Wes, and even Junichi all have their various views on the 'games, and Junichi's head isn't as in the clouds as much as the average Capitol citizen. Well, and of course Chel seems to know a lot about them... so I guess it's a matter of who people agree with the most in this regard._

**CHAPTER 8: Twelve and Two**

Wes left the training center earlier than Ava in hopes of finding Vigo before Ava also showed up and tried to sway him differently. Upon finding the mentor on the 12th floor, it did not take Vigo long to realize that there was something on the boy's mind. Wes explained what he knew of Ava's situation, saying that she was mingling with the Career tributes, particularly that tall girl from District 2 they had met in the elevator the night before. All of this was true of course, and Vigo seemed to side with Wes on the matter, much to his inclination.

"The problem with the Career pack is that there is no way out." Vigo warned, "If they put their eyes on you, you're basically doomed. On one hand, you can join them and they'll kill you first when they finally turn on each other; but on the other hand, if you refuse their offer they'll label you as enemy #1 and almost always try to kill you first anyway."  
"That's what I tried telling her," Wes shook his head, "I know that our odds aren't exactly spectacular, but if we have to die, I at least want she and I to make it past the first day."

"Then you need to stick together," Vigo insisted, "We need to get this mentality that she's good enough to run with the careers out of her head."  
"Just because you were unable to run with the big dogs does not necessarily mean that she is not." A voice from behind them cooed. Vigo and Wes spun around and saw Junichi walking in.

"And what do you know about it," Vigo quipped.

"I watch the Hunger Games on a regular basis, so I am roughly familiar with all 90 of them. This would not be the first time a career pack has taken a tribute from District 12 under their wing. Perhaps they know something about Ava's skills that she has not shown you."

"That's still not the same," Vigo insisted, "Jun, I lived it."  
"Do you suspect that the other 89 Hunger Games have all been identical to yours?"  
"No, but the kid's going way in over her head; and now a girl from '2 is following her everywhere."

"Think about it," Junichi quipped, her Capitol side briefly showing again, "how ironic would it be if Ava and Chel formed an alliance and swept the field? Perhaps _you_ should join _her_, Wes."

"Have you seen that girl?" Wes exclaimed, "She's like twice my sister's size!"

"I'm not saying I'm right," Junichi headed past them down a hall, "I'm just saying that you might be underestimating the talent of one of your tributes, Vigo, dear."

Vigo shook his head, before turning back to Wes.

"It's hard," he told him, "being a mentor. You have to train two tributes each year knowing that at least one of them is going to die. It's especially hard for me this year because you two are siblings. If you go home, your sister dies. If she goes home, her brother dies."

"I want her to live." Wes sighed, "Almost more than myself. I do not think there is much I can do for her though unless I want to sacrifice myself for her. I could do that if we were the last two alive, but the odds of that happening are not in my favor."

The two of them seemed to come to this conclusion every time they spoke about it, and as the conversation wore on, soon an exhausted Aveline staggered into the apartment from the elevator, flopping onto a sofa and spreading herself out.

"So how was training," Vigo asked the exhausted girl. She muttered something inaudible into the armrest and made no real effort to move.

"Turn around, sis," Wes suggested. Ava rolled her head over and closed her eyes.

"It was really fun, actually." The exhausted girl admitted, "Chel and Chaco taught me a few things—mostly just Chel though. She's really good—at like, everything."

"I just want you and your brother to be safe," Vigo warned, "If you want to trust the career tributes… just make sure that you're willing to trust your life with them for at least a few days. When they break their alliances up, they still go for who they think is the weakest."  
"Then I guess I'll have to make sure I'm not the weakest one," Ava yawned, still clearly exhausted from all the strenuous physical activity from the training facility had given her this day.

Vigo paused, turning from Ava back to Wes before speaking up again. "Tell me, you two," he looked between them, "do you fear death?"  
"Doesn't anyone?" Wes tilted his head. It seemed like an obvious question to him. "Even if you don't fear for your own life—what happens to those you leave behind who have to cope with your loss?"  
"I can't exactly say that I matched that sentiment," Vigo admitted, "The Capitol didn't kill my parents—my mother died in a mining accident, and my father died before I was able to ever remember him. I hate to say this, but you'll have to overcome that fear of death if you want to get far in the 'games. You need to stay focused on the situation at hand—even one moment of distraction and you could get offed."  
"I don't fear death." Ava piped up, still lying on her side on that sofa. Wes and Vigo turned towards her, slightly surprised at her bold and forward statement. Noticing their skeptical looks, she repeated herself.

"I don't fear death," she rehashed, "If one of us deserves to go home, it's Wes. He's got a much higher chance of survival than I do, and he does more to put bread on the table for our mother than I would."  
"So you're just giving in?" Wes gave her a stare that could only be described as a cross between skeptical and disgusted. "You're just going to let those careers do you in?"  
"I didn't say that." Ava shook her head slowly. "But I guess you could say I'm taking a chance here. I trust the careers more than either of you two do."  
"Ava, look," Vigo tried to reason with her, "I'm not advising you against them for my own personal grudges or stories. I am warning you against them because they are dangerous, and even if you become the best friends in Panem, there can still only be one victor. Ever since I won, I have been trying to bring home another victor. You've gotta understand that a bond between a mentor and his tributes is often fairly strong. I feel for each of you—I know what you are about to face, and I want at least one of you to be able to go home. I wish that upon my tributes year after year. I've watched Chel just as much as you have—she could probably outdo a lot of the current victors across the districts. I guess what I'm saying is to keep her within sight if you absolutely have to try to befriend her."  
"I'm still against the idea myself," Wes reaffirmed, "and I think it's dangerous."  
"It's very dangerous," Vigo agreed, "but it can be done. And even with my remark, I'm still aversive to the idea Ava. Just make sure that over the next few days of training, you find out for sure if you're going to try and go through with it or if you're going to back away." He and Wes both hoped that she would see the folly of her ways and retreat before the careers decided that she was actually betraying them. That would just mean they would target her first and kill her messily once in the arena.

"Either way," Aveline rolled over, "I'm done with training for today. I think I woke up too early." Although she fully planned on waking up that early again tomorrow because she and Chel planned on exchanging tips and tricks and conversations before anyone else came. Now that she knew that both Wes and Vigo disapproved of it, she wanted to do it more in secret.

Wes on the other hand, was torn. He was fairly strong, at least for District 12 standards, but he knew that he couldn't go out issuing threats to any of the careers, let alone that Chel girl. While Ava kicked her shoes off and stretched her bare feet as she rolled back over, Wes sat down on a nearby chair and got comfortable as he rested a little. A nap always felt nice after a nice big meal, and the tributes from District 12 always ate rather unapologetically large amounts of food. Arguably, they had more food in the week of training than any other time in their lives.

He pondered a few things as he sat though. What if Vigo was wrong and Ava was right? What if Chel really did want to help Ava? Wes seemed okay with the idea of Ava going home if he couldn't, but if he was dead there was no way of making sure. No, he had to try and get the truth from her. He knew that that entailed, and while the idea made him nervous, he knew he had to try otherwise he had already failed. He had to go and try to directly confront Chel.


	9. Chapter 9: The Careers

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Junichi's level of awareness about the things surrounding the Hunger Games is actually very high-much more than your average escort. It is part of why the tributes often like her, even if they don't always see eye to eye with her. Similarly... friend or foe, the tributes can often present profound truths as well._

**CHAPTER 9: The Careers**

Wes awoke earlier on the 2nd day than he had on the 1st, although when he tried to check on Ava, he realized that she had still beaten him down to the training room given her absence. With that piece of knowledge in mind, he sighed and decided not to skip breakfast after all.

"Top of the morning, to you;" Junichi smiled. Vigo was nowhere to be seen, but there was Jun all sharply dressed in a dark red that matched her lipstick and brought out her vivid red eye color.

"Did Ava come by?" he asked curiously.

"She was here about an hour ago," the escort nodded, "she did eat breakfast as well, however. It's good to know that District 12 has such dedicated tributes this year." She beamed at him, rather proudly.

"Do you think what she's doing is dangerous," Wes asked her again, hoping that she had changed her views since yesterday. This hope was, of course, a vain one.

"The Hunger Games are rank with danger," Jun reminded him, "even the Capitol knows that." It was part of why they always made for such riveting entertainment, though Jun left that part out. "I think that she is doing what she feels is right, and that she has or is learning some skills that she is not showing you or Vigo. Don't cite me on that or anything; you two obviously know more about it than me." She was not even trying to be sarcastic with this remark. The woman just had a streak of humility, after all.

Wes decided to simply nod to indicate that he had heard what had been said, and then quickly finished his breakfast and headed down to the training room.

Sure enough, some of the first people he saw there were Ava and Chel. The latter was teaching the former a bit about how to swing an axe.

"Then you flick your wrist and open your fingers like this to throw it if you ever need to."  
Ava did as instructed, and while her axe fell short of the mark, her style was good.

Wes glanced around the room and noticed that only about three others were there—that boy from District 10 once again, a girl from District 5, and the boy from District 11. He slowly approached Ava and Chel, hoping to get their attention before he actually reached them. Sure enough, he got within 15 feet of them before Chel noticed, and Ava jumped.

"Wes!" she exclaimed, before collecting herself. "uh, hey."

"Hey," he nodded at her before turning towards the taller girl. "Uh, Chel, is it?"  
"The one and only," she cooed. "It's good to see that you're actually willing to talk to me now."  
"Aye, about that;" He lowered his voice. "Do you have a moment?"  
"I've got all the time in the world, hon," she chortled, "Ava, can your brother and I have a moment?"  
"Sure," the smaller girl shrugged, going to retrieve the axes she had thrown.

"I'm curious about one thing—okay, so a lot of things," Wes admitted,

"If you're saying you have curiosities regarding my character as well as my relationship with your sister, then I most likely have the answers you seek." Chel replied.

"I want to know what's going to happen between you and her once we reach the arena."

Chel paused for a moment before answering. "Ah, that is one of the questions that I wish I could answer. It does seem like an unlikely alliance because of our size difference and places of origin, but frankly, I'm not interested in that. I just want to mix things up—throw a wrench in the system, you might say."  
"And does that involve killing me or my sister?"  
"It might; you aren't trying to threaten me, are you?"  
"No; it's just—" he began and shook his head, "Never mind."

"Even if someone throws a wrench into the system, the object of the games is still the same. However, if you want to know what I want at this moment, I'll tell you. I want to become allies with your sister." She purposely left out his name, because she did not know or like Wes the way she liked Ava.

"I want to keep her safe." Wes insisted.  
"The two propositions are not mutually exclusive." Chel reminded him, "Think about it though—you've still got 5 days before you get to kill me."  
"Wait, _get_ to kill you?" he exclaimed, tilting his head again.

"What, you think just because I'm from '2 and you're from '12 automatically means that there's no way you could kill me?" Chel cooed, "If you think like that, you really are nothing more than games fodder."  
"No, it's just—" Wes stammered, "you're clearly strong and fast and have trained for this. I haven't done anything like that, and there's no way my week will match up to your years."  
"Tell me something," Chel looked the boy in the eye. "See that girl over there?" she pointed her finger towards the girl from District 5, "there were thousands of peoples' names put into that lottery, and they don't take tesserae fairly often." She only knew this from talks between Peacekeepers that came and went from District 2.

"So?" Wes tilted his head again, "what's that have to do with anything?"  
"Well, it was a one in a thousand chance that she would get picked—and now here she is. So even if you only have a 1 in 1000 chance of killing me—or perhaps even winning the games—know that it is still on the table. If you give up before you've even started, you're just selling yourself short."

"So why are you telling me this? Are you saying you don't want to win?"  
"I'm saying that you can beat the odds if you really try. It's the biggest thing that I've been telling your sister as well. Well, that and I've been teaching her a little about how to use a weapon. She seems to have some potential with a bow, but you folks seem to like those a lot."  
It was true that a lot of kids from District 12 used bows or hatchets, since they often went out hunting in the woods outside the district. Security was still rather lax in the smallest and poorest district of Panem.

"About that," he glanced over at Ava who was shooting rather haphazardly at first. "Why are you teaching her how to shoot right-handed? Surely you can tell that's not her dominant hand."

"That's exactly why, actually" Chel indicated, "If people watch her and think she's just another poor little kid trying to get by learning how to swing a weapon that she's never even seen before, she's that much less likely to get noticed in the early game and killed off. That, and most tributes, if they have to choose which hand to strike, most will choose the right hand. If in the event that Ava gets attacked, she can proceed to strike with her real dominant hand while her attacker thinks he has gotten the advantage over her. Essentially, I'm setting her up to be a surprise of sorts."  
"You really have all this planned out, don't you?" the boy shook his head. By this time, most of the tributes were showing up, although none of them paid much heed to Wes and Chel as they spoke.

"They teach us more at the academies than just combat, you know." Chel quipped, "Your sister is a rare brand, and I think she deserves a chance."  
Wes suddenly had an epiphany, and changed the subject for the worse. "The time you're making her spend on learning things all over again is time she could be spending honing her skills!"  
"That's true enough," Chel shrugged, "but it's not me forcing her—she asked me to help her."

Wes shook his head. He didn't like the vibe this girl gave off, and worst of all, his sister seemed completely oblivious to all of it, and instead thought that they were friends. Chel talked in riddles that Wes could not understand, and so he shook his head and walked off. His timing was near impeccable, because moments later, right as Chel was returning to Ava shooting a lucky bulls-eye right-handed, Chaco, Lazuli, Iris, and Zaffre appeared.

"You still playing with that kid from '12?" Zaffre looked a bit skeptical.

"I like her," Chel admitted as Ava lowered her bow to listen in. He saw Wes and the boy from District 10 talking about something, but they were much too far away.

"Well, it's only a matter of time before… well, y'know." Iris warned. Ava lowered her head and pretended not to notice, instead going back to trying to shoot as accurately with her right hand as she could with her left.

"The same could be said about any of us," Chel reminded her, ruffling the smaller girl's already wild hair.

The subject soon changed to weapons and combat again, and the career pack, which also seemed to include the boy from '4 and the kids from '3, resumed their training. None of them said anything about Ava, but many of them did seem to keep their eyes on her.


	10. Chapter 10: The Scores

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _I actually went through the trouble of naming each and every tribute myself. This chapter is a little longer than the others, and sheds light on the tribute names, as well as their training scores. However, remember that a training score is still just a number, and has no bearing on how well or how dismally a tribute will perform once they are thrown into the arena. Also, I'm far enough ahead that I can change my posting to every 3 days or so now.__  
_

**CHAPTER 10: The Scores**

The next few days passed in similar patterns to the others. Wes could still not decipher what the careers all thought of Ava, but the girl stayed close to Chel, who seemed to want to protect her. One thing did become clear to Wes during the training—overall, the tributes, including the careers, were generally much more sociable and friendly to each other. He had heard that earlier in the games, even as early as Katniss' time, they were not on such friendly terms. In fact, Katniss even claimed that it happened after the quarter quell when the new training center opened.

Wes' socialization was not without benefits though. He managed to ally himself with the District 11 pair, and they even got along decently well with Ava, but were wary of her because of that towering girl from District 2 that seemed to follow her a lot. He also learned that the boy from District 10, named Rook, had volunteered in place of a friend. Wes sort of hoped that if he or Ava could not win, that someone with an intent as noble as that one would be able to take the victor's crown.

Today was different though. The time had finally arrived for the private sessions between the tributes and the Gamemakers, where everyone got a chance to show off their skills to the judges that they might have kept hidden from everyone else.

"My advice," Vigo told them at breakfast before they were to go downstairs to wait their turn, "is don't hold back—show them your all."

"If you're still so hellbent on impressing the careers," Wes turned to his sister, "now's the time to do it. Show the Gamemakers all you've got, and if you score high, you'll probably appeal to them." He had given up trying to dissuade her from this little ambition of hers, and even Vigo was at a loss. Maybe she could get away with siding with them, even if it was District 2 that had offed his partner years ago.

Ava simply shrugged, and Wes shook his head. "what'd I tell you, Vigo," he turned to the mentor, "she's not easy to communicate with."  
"I can see that." Vigo put his fingers to his chin, scratching the stubble he had there. "But my advice still stands, so you two best be getting ready and head on down there."  
To cut a long story short, soon Wes and Ava found themselves waiting at the end of a long line of tributes. Some were chatty; others leaned against the wall and slept while they waited their turns. Ava simply leaned back and closed her eyes, almost accepting of her fate. Wes shook his head; he couldn't understand that girl sometimes, and he was her brother. If he couldn't understand her, who could?

The line of tributes got smaller and smaller as each one got called in to demonstrate their skills to the Gamemakers. Soon, it was Wes' turn.

"Good luck," he smiled at Ava, "wish me the same."  
Ava actually did wish Wes luck before he entered the training hall. He turned to the Gamemakers before beginning his performance.

Wes displayed decent skill with a sword, and promising skills as a hunter or trapper. He was a fairly decent shot with a bow, although he surely felt that the careers had outdone him. Still, as long as his score was not anything embarrassingly low (like anything below a 4, really), he would be content. After about 15 minutes or so, he was dismissed like all the others, and Ava was called. She would be the one to wrap this all up for her, and Wes gave her a hug before letting her go.

By the time Ava returned to the apartment, Wes and the others were there. They were mostly just biding time till the announcement of training scores came up. Amadeus and Celine dismissed themselves early to go put the finishing touches on Wes and Ava's interview outfits, while the others watched the TV for the upcoming tribute scores. Soon, the announcement had arrived.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen—the training scores of this year's tributes, for the 91__st__ Annual Hunger Games."_  
Wes and Ava watched the screen intently.

"_Zaffre Jade; District 1, with a score of… 10"  
_Neither Wes nor Ava were surprised at this. He was a career tribute, and so of course he'd score high.

"_Lazuli Cohen; District 1, with a score of… 9"  
_Wes had expected her to get a little higher, but 9 was still a very respectable score and was hard to beat.

"_Chaco Haden; District 2, with a score of… 10"  
_These careers were shaping up to be just as dangerous as they were reputed to be. It made Wes worry even more for Ava, although he remained silent for the time being.

"_Chel Colorado; District 2, with a score of… 12"  
_Ava's expression changed to one of awe and amazement, while Wes shook his head. It did not terribly surprise him that the tall girl had scored so high. She seemed proficient at more or less everything she had put her hands to. She would be difficult to bring down.

"_Samuel Fukui; District 3, with a score of… 11"_  
District 3 usually had mid-high scores, since they were usually clever rather than strong. Perhaps this Samuel fellow was a little bit of both. He would definitely be dangerous.

"_Alice Kahn; District 3, with a score of… 8"  
_That seemed more reasonable to Wes, although he was sure she'd still be a formidable opponent.

"_Cress Tallulah; District 4, with a score of… 9"  
_So the diminutive career tributes had done fairly well. He figured his partner would score high too.

"_Iris Durango; District 4, with a score of… 12"  
_He was right, and that didn't bode well. Wes felt it would be a battle between Chel and Iris for the victor's crown. Iris was a rather small girl—young too.

"_Volta Tabris; District 5, with a score of… 6"  
_That was more in what Wes figured would be his range. Then again, the scores were not even necessarily odds of winning—just how much the Gamemakers liked what they had seen.

"_Violet Crossley; District 5, with a score of… 7"  
_He greatest concerns were now over, although there were still plenty more tributes to watch scores for. After all, there was more of a threat than just the careers.

"_Kendryx Morocco; District 6, with a score of… 7"  
_District 6 was always hard to read, as they seemed to march to their own beat. Their tributes were often at least fairly competent though.

"_Candie Rielley; District 6, with a score of… 9"  
_Even Vigo was fairly quiet during these interviews, but a quick glance towards his expression told Wes that he had some things to say when this was all done and over.

"_Lombardi Mason; District 7, with a score of… 8"  
_District 7, much like District 3, might not have been a career district officially, but it usually produced reasonably strong tributes. When Wes saw the girl's score, he reminded himself of this.

"_Magnolia Chang; District 7, with a score of… 11"  
_She'd be a dangerous one—she had outscored three of the four primary careers. With each new score, he seemed to get more pessimistic about his outcome.

"_Roy O'Donnell; District 8, with a score of… 10"  
_Wes shook his head. Was each of them going to score such crazy high numbers? He thought that the 10s, 11s, and 12s were something that only Districts 1 and 2 ever achieved.

"_Wynn Butler; District 8, with a score of… 7"  
_This was one of the only scores that was not terribly above average—it seemed that most of this year's batch of tributes all seemed to have promising potential.

"_Jordan Finkel; District 9, with a score of… 4"  
_Okay, so maybe there would be at least one tribute Wes might be able to outscore.

"_Ashley Ursine; District 9, with a score of… 5"  
_Then again, maybe he was just being hard on himself. He had a tendency to do so; or so said Ava.

"_Rook Jackson; District 10, with a score of… 6"  
_For someone who had volunteered, Wes had expected him to score higher. Then again, maybe he was pulling that trick where he feigned weakness just to turn into a killer in the arena. A lot of tributes from the lower districts did this a lot.

"_Megan Crossland; District 10, with a score of… 5"  
_Perhaps Districts 11 and 12 would be able to provide their usual curve and score above the rest. Wes' mind was dwelling on a lot of these numbers, but as his approached, he grew tenser.

"_Florence Hadley; District 11, with a score of… 8"  
_8 was a decent score—it was often a score career tributes got, even if this year they had all scored rather spectacularly well. Then again, District 11's victors had established themselves as cunning and resilient folks. Maybe that passed on to their tributes.

"_Ginger Sevina; District 11, with a score of… 8"  
_Surely the mentors of these tributes were also rather spectacular at their jobs if they were able to turn simple farmers into masters of combat and survival. Wes was almost envious, though Vigo had done him well, and he was not about to belittle the man. Still, this was his moment—his score was up nexdt, and so he watched the screen without even blinking.

"_Wesley Togisala; District 12, with a score of… 7"  
_Average—he did average. Okay, it was a little above average, which meant that he might have had a little chance. He was currently ranked about 15th or 16th unless Ava outscored him. He imagined that it was fully possible if he was to believe everything that Chel taught her.

"_Aveline Togisala; District 12, with a score of… 5"  
_He turned to his sister almost in disbelief. Whatever she had learned or did had apparently not been very impressive, and he sighed.

"I know what you're going to say," she retorted before Wes could even open his mouth. "Don't say it. I know what I did, and I know what I should have done. There's no taking back the past though."  
Wes shook his head as well. 21st—Ava had taken 21st in terms of scoring. He did not think that it would end well for her, but he politely remained in silence.


	11. Chapter 11: A Deceptive Game

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _And now we learn just what happened to Ava, and a bit of what strategies they are taking. Also, a bit more on the relationship between Vigo and Junichi as well as a bit of other silliness that comes form putting so many colorful characters all in the same room together at once._

**CHAPTER 11: A Deceptive Game**

"What exactly did you do in there?" Vigo turned to the girl as the screen shut back off again. Amadeus and Celine had not returned to dress Wes and Ava up for their tribute interviews later this evening, but Junichi was still there, having watched the whole thing in silence.

"Everything you told me to," she answered, "bows, knives, traps; that whole collection; I gave it my all."

"And somehow, the best you could do was a 5," Vigo exclaimed, "What did you do differently?"

"I tried something Chel suggested." She began,

"Chel has no more Hunger Games experience than you do," Vigo argued, "Ava, I tried giving you a chance; I've tried to get your brother to drill it into your head; but now I've learned the truth. Chel is trying to throw you off. For whatever reason, she thinks you're a threat, and wants that threat reduced."

"Hey!" Ava snapped right back, "Let me finish." She sat down, glaring the mentor right in the eyes. Junichi actually smiled, strangely enough.

"She told me to use my right hand." Ava explained. "If a tribute was attacking you and you had to choose what hand to strike at, which would you choose?"  
Vigo paused for a moment, before realizing Ava's logic.

"Acha, girl; I see your point. That is still a high-risk venture you're choosing though. Just because you can pull a veil over their eyes doesn't mean that you're in the clear."  
"Sorry I snapped at you," she shrugged, "sure, doing things right-handed seems like second nature to most people, and I'm sure it's easy—but not if you're left handed." She lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers. If she had used her good arm her score would have likely been much higher.

Junichi held out an expecting hand towards Vigo, a confident smirk on her face.

"Jun, you're a terrible woman." He sighed exasperatedly, but both Wes and Ava could tell it was a joke. "Fine, take it." He slapped some money into her awaiting hand. "Not like you Capitol folk need it."

"A bet is a bet and I'm a woman of my word," Junichi retorted, "even if you did lose."  
"What did you bet on?" Wes tilted his head as Ava shoved her hands into her pockets.

"Jun said you were hiding some of your potential, Ava, even after I told you not to," Vigo chuckled a bit himself, "She insisted that you were holding back."  
"I told him that there was no way you were able to gain approval from the career tributes unless you had some moderate skill, Aveline—much more than would warrant a 5." Junichi added, "I don't think any of them except your brother and that Chel girl are aware that you are left-handed."

"Still, that reminds me," Vigo warned, "Ava, be careful around her. Friend or not, she's still dangerous. I do think that District 11 is a safe bet for an alliance, so you should be okay, Wes."  
Wes nodded, "I'm sure they wouldn't turn you away, Ava," he reminded her.

"Now don't go too far" Junichi indicated, "Amadeus and Celine will be returning in a few moments!"

Within 2½ minutes of Junichi saying this, Amadeus and Celine returned.

"We are ready." They gestured for the two siblings to follow them.

Just like last time, Wes and Ava parted ways as he went with Amadeus, and his sister went with Celine. Wes repeated the same ritual that he had last time during the parade, except that he did not need to be operated on like he had been the first time. A room away, Ava was rather grateful for this, because it had rather hurt when Celine had stripped away all of Ava's light body hair, which most citizens of District 12 had simply out of not needed to remove it. This time, she simply stripped naked and washed up, (the colored substances still intrigued the girl, but she knew they wouldn't hurt her), and then followed the stylist into another room, wrapping a towel around herself again.

"don't worry," Celine reassured the younger girl, "these outfits are not like the exotic costumes that you wore in the parade. Just relax and trust me on this one."  
"Whatcha gonna do?" Ava tilted her head as she watched her loose curly hair get transformed the way Celine wanted it to, in preparation for whatever clothing the stylists was going to dress her in.

"I've heard from a reliable source that you are trying to be deceptive." The stylist grinned, guiding Ava onto her feet by her shoulders, where she began applying makeup to the tribute's face, "and so I will help you as well as I can with that ruse."

Celine tied a little white bow into Ava's black hair, before fetching the dress. It was a little black knee-length thing with white lace around the cuffs of the sleeves and around the hems of the skirts. She tied it around in the back to make a bow.

"This," Ava looked skeptical as she saw herself in the mirror, "how is this deceptive?"

"Look at yourself," the stylist chuckled as Ava pulled on some ruffled socks and black shoes. Her hair had been done back into loose, bouncy pigtails, and with all the little lace and bows, combined with her thin frame and smaller-than-average size, Ava could have passed as a 10-year-old.

"Jun told me about what that District 2 girl told you." The stylist whispered, gently massaging Ava's shoulders as she gazed into the mirror to see if there was any other embellishments she should add to the smaller girl. "Tell me—how many people are going to think that a little girl who scored a 5 is going to be any threat? Now, I cannot say that Amadeus and I are any mentors or strategists or whatever else you call them, but I have watched enough Hunger Games myself to know that I would generally overlook someone who did not look threatening."  
Ava decided to refrain from citing Celine's Capitol mentality here, and instead just nodded. "I guess I'll show 'em when I turn this place upside-down." She chuckled.

"Well… you best meet up with the others. We wouldn't want to keep Caesar waiting!"

Ava was ushered out into a hallway, where Wes appeared a few seconds later, also in black, although his was just a simple but sharp suit—very Wes-like indeed. He was a simple young man who was straightforward in his approaches. He was slightly surprised at Ava's appearance. What were these stylists trying to pull?

"You look… adorable?" he raised his eyebrows. "What's with the frills?"

Ava giggled and curtseyed. "They wanted to bring out my childlike side, I guess." She shrugged, "The Capitol apparently likes small children."  
"Yeah, especially when those small children are on the bloody end of a spear," Wes retorted, reminding himself and his sister of the grim reality of these games.

Ava shook her head. "May the odds be ever in our favor then." She indicated, before they went to go join the other tributes as they waited for the interview sessions to start. Wes was fairly sure that Caesar Flickerman was akin to President Coriolanus Snow. There had to be some sort of Capitol technology that was keeping them in prime shape despite their ages. Snow was 92 now, and looked like he hadn't aged a day past 60, while Caesar looked in his late 30s, but had been interviewing tributes ever since the 35th Hunger Games, 56 years ago.

Even though they were the last tributes in line, they were not the last ones to show up. Ava noticed Chel, dressed in a dazzling white gown which contrasted the black skin of her head and hands. She squealed when she saw Ava, and actually had the audacity to give the girl a hug, lifting her straight up from the ground.

"You look adorable!" she laughed, kissing her forehead before setting her down. "I'd swear you weren't a day older than 9 if I didn't know better!"  
"You look quite lovely yourself, Chel." Ava put her hands behind her back, swinging her foot shyly. On her way towards the front of the line behind the District 1 tributes and Chaco, she struck up conversation with the short girl from District 4, making a playfully crude joke that the smaller tribute laughed at. Wes shook his head.

"These tributes are crazy." He whispered to his sister.

"You know," he overheard Florence and Ginger talking with the boy from District 8, "I saw that District 12 mentor placing bets on your district. He had a lot of money riding on you scoring high."

"I'm Roy O'Donnell. Of course I'm going to score high." The boy beamed.

That news came at a slight discomfort to Wes. Vigo was betting on tributes? He had heard that many mentors, both current and retired, did a lot of gambling in the Capitol, but for some reason, to hear that Vigo was also involved felt odd. Perhaps it was just a way for District 12 to include itself with the other districts—something it had trouble doing sometimes.

He dismissed that thought, however, as the fanfare that had been playing for the Caesar Flickerman show ended, and the name "Zaffre Jade" was called to join him on the stage.

Ava simply leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and waiting her turn. This was truly her last chance to appeal to the Capitol audiences.


	12. Chapter 12: Sibling Squabbles

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _One of life's unavoidable truths is that siblings will fight or get into heated arguments. This is a fundamentally unchanged truth that transcends our world all the way to Panem, even when said siblings are tributes about to be thrown into an arena to kill each other. Don't worry-It's not likely that they are going to try and rip each other's throats out first or anything._

**CHAPTER 12: Sibling Squabbles**

Wes and Ava both paid close attention to some of the things that the tributes in front of them said. They would once again be last, but that in turn meant they got to hear what everyone ahead of them said. Zaffre and Lazuli spoke about how they wanted to bring glory and honor to their district, and that the games were just a means to that end. These were the generic career tribute interviews, and so neither of them was too surprised. Chaco's interview was similar, although he also spoke about being swift and effective. These were not terribly comforting words for Wes.

Chel's interview was particularly interesting though, even to the point where Wes was surprised, rather than just Ava. Caesar started out asking her how she felt about being here, to which Chel answered that it felt unusually serene.

"I think that when I'm out in that arena, I'm going to finally find peace."

"I'm sure you'll make it far past the bloodbath," Caesar had an uncanny ability to put a positive spin on just about anything. "and our Gamemakers are quite skilled at making beautiful arenas. Perhaps you'll find a night or two to enjoy the scenery… just don't get too distracted now!"

The audience chuckled with the joke, and Chel simply chuckled, reassuring them that she wouldn't.

"But on another note…" Caesar shifted the subject slightly, "Chel, you were the only one this year who the gamemakers unanimously decided was deserving of a 12. You are the one that they say will control the arena this year. How does that make you feel?"

"It makes me feel influential." Chel shrugged with a chuckle.

"And how will you use that influence? I'm sure the audience is just DYING to know!"

Wes noticed the host's ironic choice of words, but obviously he couldn't say anything or intervene. This was Chel's moment to speak to the Capitol.

"I want to surprise people; maybe do a thing or two that no one would ever expect. You'll get your show… but if you think you've got me figured out," Chel laughed, "you've got another think coming!"

"Excitement; I love it!" Caesar beamed, as the interview continued. Chel was clearly a very popular candidate that would surely be showered with sponsor gifts. Stakes would be high as bets were placed on the outcome of these games.

Soon, Wes heard Caesar state "Ladies and Gentlemen: Chel Colorado; District 2!"

District 3 both talked about how they would be cunning in the arena; and Wes and Ava both agreed with Caesar on that one. They were a particularly devious bunch this year, and it showed through their exceptionally high training scores. Iris promised that she'd help whatever gamemakers didn't think she would get a 12, to change their minds once she was in the arena. The others talked about whatever challenges and stories that Caesar had questions about, but none really stood out till Rook from District 10, who stated that he had volunteered to protect his younger brother. Wes really felt for this older boy, and hoped that he would make it far in the games, especially if he and Ava were both killed, which, considering their scores, was still quite possible, even in the bloodbath.

Both Florence and Ginger from District 11 gave a shoutout to their amazing stylist and mentor teams, and Wes couldn't help but agree with them too. District 11 had had fairly talented stylists for a while now, and they were known for currently having some of the best mentors. Soon enough, it was his turn.

Perhaps it was customary, but the Capitol audiences gave him a round of applause just like they had with all the others, and Wes shook Caesar's hand and sat down.

"So here, ladies and gentlemen," Caesar began, "is the first half of our brother-sister duo from District 12. We've all heard the stories of the siblings who won back-to-back Hunger Games, but what happens when they are both reaped the same year? Let's find out. Life is full of surprises, after all…"

He turned to Wes, and the questioning process began. Wes explained that they were obviously going to watch out for each other come the arena, and hopefully they would manage to battle their way to the end of the games together or something. Caesar, in his typical way of keeping things positive, did not mention the possibility of one of them having to kill the other, but instead simply reminded him that there could only ever be one victor.

"Then I guess we'll have to see whose favor the odds are in." Wes responded, concluding his interview. Caesar gave the audience a certain interested stare, before sounding off Wes' name again, shaking the boy's hand as he stood up. He went backstage again and motioned for Ava that it was her turn.

"You did well," she whispered.

"Thanks," Wes shrugged, "you'll do well too."

"And now we conclude," Caesar spoke softly for dramatic effect as little Ava walked in, "with the final tribute, and the 2nd half of our favorite District 12 siblings." His voice rose as he prepared for the exciting reveal. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Aveline Togisala!"

The first thing that Caesar pointed out was how adorable Ava looked in her little frilly dress. "Come now… any tribute who saw you wouldn't want to hurt you—they'd probably just want to hug you!" he chuckled. Ava had noticed that he had once again brushed over the fact that tributes did not aim to hurt each other—they aimed to kill each other, and the victor would have to become a murderer him or herself in order to escape the arena trap.

"Well, I think the audience here deserves to see you in that pretty dress." Caesar insisted, "Why don't you get up and show it off a little. Maybe do a couple of twirls…"

Ava stood up and did just that. Sometimes stylists hid special effects into their tributes' interview outfits, but Ava's, as cute as it was, was mundane. The ruffles and her skirts did bounce and fly a little, exposing her knees for a split-second, but otherwise, perhaps they just wanted to see the child spin a little.

Soon Caesar adjusted the subject back around her and Wes, where Ava gave her point of view on the matter. She wound up wrapping up her interview with a few surprising words.

"Caesar," she piped up right before he was able to dismiss her. Caesar Flickerman, keeping his ever-present grin, leaned in.

"I just want to tell you something—I want to tell the entire Capitol something."

"Oh," Caesar leaned in, and the audience leaned forward in their seats.

"There will be a victor's interview a few weeks from now." Ava stated rather resolutely. "And I will be the one sitting on that throne. I know none of you probably believe me right now… but just you wait. Life is full of surprises."

"Well there you have it folks!" Caesar beamed, "this bold, audacious little lady is without a doubt the future victor of the 91st Annual Hunger Games!"

The audience clapped and cheered, although Ava was certain none of them believed her. Why would they, when there were tributes like Chel and Iris on the field? Did Wes believe her? Would he want to believe her? Did she even believe in herself that she could do it?

She departed, and met back up with Wes before they started walking back towards the elevator as the closing fanfare for the Caesar Flickerman Show began to play once again.

"That was certainly interesting…" he quipped, "When did you learn to be so daring?"  
"You'd just chastise me if I told you." Ava looked at the ground as they walked to the elevator. This was enough for Wes to know exactly who it was.

"At this rate, you should have just asked Chel to be your mentor, with how much she's told you." He teased, "Vigo might not have minded the lighter workload."

"Will you leave her alone?" Ava barked,

"I could ask you the same thing!" Wes snapped back as they stepped into the elevator.

"She just told me to stand up for myself," Ava reasoned, "it's good advice, really."

"I still don't get your obsession with that girl." They were heading up to floor 12 now.

"She's my friend!" Ava insisted.

"There are no friends in The Hunger Games, Ava." Wes reminded her as the door opened and Wes stepped out. Ava remained in the elevator for a moment.

"Then what the hell does that make us, brother?" she crossed her arms bitterly, catching a brief glimpse of a startled Vigo, Junichi, Celine and Amadeus, before the doors closed on her.

Wes sighed, joining his team at the table, clutching his head.

"She's gonna get herself killed," he resigned. "She listens to that Chel girl more than she listens to you."

"Well then," Vigo took his hand to look the boy right in the eyes, "if she does die, I better do all I can to get you back home."

"Do you think I can do it?" he asked, "I mean, tomorrow's the big day."

"I'm rooting for you." Vigo answered. "We all are. I heard what you and your sister said as you stepped off the elevator, and… well, she's right. Perhaps it is better to break ties with her now rather than later."

Wes nodded, but the idea itself was still hard to fully stomach.


	13. Chapter 13: The Alliance

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _And thus concludes Part I of the series. Starting with the next chapter, we move into the actual games to finally get to see some of these tributes in action. In the meantime, we get to see a bit more about Ava, and more importantly, some of Chel's inner workings. there is much more to that career girl than meets the eye, after all._

**CHAPTER 13: THE ALLIANCE**

After parting ways with Wes at their floor, Ava continued upwards towards the rooftop, stepping out against the night sky. About 12 or 14 hours from now, she and 23 others would be getting shipped off to fight to the death.

Ava glanced around, and saw only one solitary figure standing by herself a few feet away from her. Further observation revealed this individual to be none other than Chel.

"It's funny how our paths keep crossing, isn't it?" she said softly, still gazing out over the black, illuminated Capitol horizon, her hands behind her back. Like Ava, Chel was still in her interview gown.

"My brother still doesn't trust you," Ava sighed, her tone indicating that it was more of an observation and not a threat of any kind.

"Well, it's his loss then," the taller girl shrugged, "but let's not worry about that. Ava, can I talk about how adorable you are right now? I want to squeeze you."

"You like this dress that much?" the smaller girl tilted her head.

"Yes." Chel replied rather forwardly. "I'm going to hug you again."  
She did not even wait for Ava to respond, and the smaller girl grunted as her feet were whipped from the ground and the air squeezed out of her body.

"Chel…" she groaned, "I… can't… breathe…"

With a laugh, the taller girl set Ava back down, flicking a loose strand of her hair away from her face. "You really do remind me of Gracie."

"Who's Gracie?" Ava tilted her head again.

"She was a girl from District 11 a few years back—tiny little thing; dark skin, curly hair like you, and not a day older than 12½."

"I'm 15 though" Ava pointed out, "even if my stylist dressed me to look 9 or so."

"So what's your story, kid?" Chel asked her suddenly, "What did you do before this?"  
"I mostly just hunted and tried to scrape a living out of District 12," Ava shrugged, "how about you?"  
"My life has always been closely tied to the hunger games." Chel explained, "I knew that this year would be the year that I volunteered for them, so I've basically lived my life for this moment."

"And what then," Ava looked up at the black-skinned girl curiously.  
"That's just it," Chel admitted, "If I win, I have no idea what I'll do with myself. What's a girl to do when she's spent her life preparing for one single event? When that event ends, she's left with nothing."  
"So are you just going to die then?" Ava looked skeptical.

"Of course not," Chel laughed, "I'll play to win or whatnot. If I get remembered, I don't want to be remembered as that high-scoring tribute that got killed in the opening seconds."

"This feels so weird," Ava shook her head. "In a few hours, some of the people in this building will be dead—and others of us will have become murderers."  
"Death happens, as we like to say in District 2," Chel shrugged, "and when the Hunger Games are involved, death happens more."

"That's not a very comforting thought." Ava whimpered.

"It's not supposed to be," Chel reminded her. "but if you can't stand the sight of death, you are going to have a hard time. You said you were a hunter?"  
"Yeah; I killed and cleaned tons of animals; sold a lot of them at the Hob back home."

"The Hob; what's what?"  
"It's kind of like a black market, I guess. I thought you knew everything, Chel." The smaller girl chuckled.

"I only know so much about District 12, little missy." She pinched Ava's cheek playfully, "You have to remember I haven't been there, and also that I am no mentor. I'm just a seasoned girl who has been trained at one of the academies back in District 2."  
"So why did you want to dedicate so much of your time and energy to it only to change your mind now?" Ava tilted her head. It didn't make sense to her.

"Like I said; it was an epiphany I had sometime around last year. Originally I did it for the same reason everyone does it—for fame and glory; for people to revere you and your district for a while."

"But why change your mind at all? Wouldn't you just be able to learn something once you got home? It's never too old to teach someone something. Are you really throwing your life away?"  
"That's what the games are for, kiddo," Chel chuckled, "but no. I've honestly felt that I've lived a full life, and that this is where the efforts of my life come to culminate. If I lose, then so be it, but if I win, I suppose I'll be immortalized or something."

"Glory for your district and yourself; fame; fortune; riches; immunity from the Hunger Games" Ava reminded her, "I can sort of see why some of you stronger tributes might want to volunteer… but where I'm from, volunteering is basically suicide."

"Well, no offense, but your lot does usually die pretty early in the games," Chel pointed out. Ava simply shrugged her shoulders and sighed. Maybe she really was going to die in the opening seconds.

"However," she put her large hands on the small girl's shoulders, "I've got a proposition."

"I'm listening." Ava quipped, looking the larger girl right in the eyes "and hoping that it's not one of those 'do what I say or I kill you first', kind of things.

"Nope," Chel shrugged, "Just a 'join me or I kill you."  
Ava's eyes widened, and she actually recoiled, ready to run. However, Chel was too swift and grabbed her wrist, chuckling again.

"Relax, girl. I'm kidding. What I am proposing, is nothing short of a formal alliance: District 2 and District 12. No one would ever see that coming."  
"What about Wes and… Chaco, was it?"  
"What about them? I'm still District 2 and you're still District 12. Don't worry about the others—well, do; just don't worry about trying to make friends or enemies with them. I'd say that there's no pressure and that I don't have a deadline, but we should probably be getting some sleep soon; if you're too tired to stand upright on your pedestal, you might slip off like that one boy did a few years back."

Ava cringed, remembering that similar to the girl who had dropped the wooden ball, these unfortunate tributes had activated the landmines around their pedestals. Anyone foolish enough to suffer such a horrible fate generally had to be scraped off of the surrounding 80 square feet, as well as off the neighboring tributes.

It was in this moment that Ava came to her conclusion, and she extended her hand.

"I'll do it." She decided. If she was doomed to die, she might as well at least prolong her life by a few days by not getting on Chel's bad side. The rest was up to chance.

"Then may the odds be ever in your favor." Chel hugged the smaller girl again. She seemed very forward with little affectionate gestures like this, but maybe that was just how she treated friends? Ava decided not to think too long and hard about it.

They parted ways, and Ava returned to her room. She changed into some nightclothes and was soon asleep. It had been a long and exhausting day, and it was only about to get worse from here.

Wes on the other hand, just a room away, was lying awake, gazing almost longingly at the scenery from District 12 that he switched on using the projectors the room was equipped with. Vigo had told them to be ruthless tomorrow, and he was not sure that Ava had it in her to be such. He knew that one of them would have to die, but he did not want to watch his sister get mercilessly cut down in the opening seconds of the games.

"_I made a promise." _He told himself, _"One of us is going to return home. District 12 will have a victor this year. If I cannot save Ava, then I have to at least save myself."_

Still, the idea did not sit comfortably with him. In a matter of hours, they would be fighting other children to the death—children who were forced to be their enemies. Truly, they were all just innocent children like him, although many had had their minds molded from an early age into the minds of fighters, warriors, and killers. Would that be his fate if he won? He would inevitably have to come home a killer, but would that be his mindset as well? It was haunting to think about. Tomorrow at this time, probably around half of the children on the floors below him would be dead.

No, he would forgive Ava—he would try to meet up with her; they could worry about the single-victor rule later, but if they survived the bloodbath together, they could formulate a plan on what to do from there. Sometime during this rumination, Wes finally tumbled off to sleep. Tomorrow was truly the beginning of the end…


	14. Chapter 14: Countdown to Death

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _And thus we conclude Part I of this story as the 91st Annual Hunger Games kick off. Someone dies, and thus someone else is already a murderer. The following chapter will cover the rest of the bloodbath as the pandemonium dies down, and we get into the nit and grit of the games from there. Happy reading._

**CHAPTER 14: Countdown to Death**

Wes groaned as he heard someone calling to wake him up. He knew who it was, and while he was able to dismiss the fact that she was likely just following protocol rather than sounding super enthusiastic about it the way she had been the last several days, he was still a bit grumpy. No one; rich or poor, male or female, young or old, good or evil, enjoyed being woken up. In most cases it was just a necessary evil. This was probably the most evil of the necessary evils.

Junichi departed once she noticed Wes was up, and probably went next door to go wake up Ava. As Wes rubbed his eyes and stretched, he noticed that a pile of clothes was set out for him—clearly the uniform for the arena this year. It was fairly simple, as most of them were, simply consisting of dark pants and a jacket that appeared to be water-resistant but also lightweight; and then study boots and a T-shirt. He pulled it all on, figuring that the only thing to differentiate the tributes' outfits (apart from their sizes, which the Capitol clearly had information on), was that Wes' outfit had two bands around the bicep areas of his T-shirt and jacket that bore the number 12.

He stepped out and sat down to eat some breakfast. Obviously his team was fairly quiet, even when Ava came out, dressed almost identically to Wes, except her clothes were obviously smaller to accommodate her smaller frame.

"Don't hold back," Vigo warned as the two tributes ate. He could continue eating after they were gone and being transported to the arena. He, Junichi, and the stylists would be able to eat more while they watched the games. Wes and Ava would not be so fortunate.  
"Anything you can do, do it. Everything that happens once you get into that arena is just a means to an end. There is no one judging you. They aren't going to care how you win—just THAT you win."

Ava gave Vigo a look of understanding which Wes also mimicked.

"I'm rooting for you." Junichi said softly; the escort lady had always been fairly down-to-earth, but this time she sounded genuinely humble and concerned. Wes remembered that she had briefly mentioned that she had lost a child of her own, and so perhaps that was why she sympathized a bit more with them. She was easily the most popular Capitol citizen back in District 12, which was part of why the Capitol allowed her to stay there—it gave them good publicity if its citizens and the citizens of one of Panem's districts were able to foster some sort of relationship.

Soon, however, breakfast came to an end, and it was just a few minutes of tense waiting before there was a knock at their door. No one answered it, because a moment later, a pair of Peacekeepers appeared. Ava and Wes both looked a little startled, but then realized what they were there for. They were just here to ensure that the tributes arrived at the hovercraft without incident. Surely there had been one or two years when a kid probably tried to make a run for it.

As they got up to leave, Amadeus and Celine both did the same, but took a different route. Wes turned to Ava and gave her a brief hug.

"Let's try and meet up," he suggested, "If nothing else, I want to try and make amends for how I've been acting over the last few days. I love you, Ava."  
"I love you too, Wes. We can maybe talk more on the trip to the arena."  
With a nod, the two siblings followed the Peacekeepers, who escorted them to the hovercraft without event. There were 24 seats, but they were divided into two rows across from each other—boys to the left, and girls to the right. Ava and Wes sat across from each other, with Wes finding himself seated between Florence and Volta, while Ava found herself next to Candie and Alice. She glanced towards the end of the row and saw Chel at the far end, seated next to Ginger. It was unusually silent as the tributes fastened themselves in, and Peacekeepers came around instructing them to hold up their arms. Iris, who was the first tribute approached, held out her arm. The peacekeeper pushed her sleeve up a little before jabbing something into her arm—the trackers. As bad as these sounded, they were more so that the Gamemakers would know where to focus the cameras. There were forcefields around the boundaries of the arena that would prevent escape, or would fry tributes on the spot if they were misfortunate enough to walk into it.

Soon every tribute's right arm was equipped with a tiny tracker. It didn't hurt at all, or even draw any blood, and so it was rather eventless after that.

Wes wasn't sure how long the trip had lasted, but eventually, he could tell that the hovercraft was landing and coming to a stop. Most of the other tributes seemed rather calm about it. Some of the lower-scoring ones seemed a bit nervous, while the careers and other higher-scoring tributes seemed pumped and ready to go. Ava, whom Wes was watching with curious interest, remained calm and stoic, not betraying even a hint of emotion on her face about how she felt. Soon the craft came to a stop, and the tributes were filed out one by down into an underground chamber where they were each taken to separate rooms. Wes noticed that there was a glass tube on one side of his little room, and that waiting for him there was none other than Amadeus. Perhaps Celine was with Ava.

"I can't keep you for long," the purple-haired stylist warned, "but I do want to give you this. Celine has the one for Ava."  
He handed Wes the orange bracelet that had the sun pattern on it. In another room in these same catacombs, Ava was being handed the same purple, moon-patterned bracelet that his mother had given her before the train.

"Do good out there," he took Wes' hand, "we're all rooting for you."  
Wes shuddered slightly, but embraced Amadeus for a moment before walking towards the tube, which closed around him. There was no turning back now. A few moments later, presumably after every tribute was in place, the tubes began to rise, and Wes found himself squinting as the brightness of the arena set in around them.

In front of him was the cornucopia that graced the center of their semicircle. Glancing around and he realized that they were on a large plateau, surrounded by a circular valley, with incredible mountain vistas each way he looked. To his left was Cress from '4, and to his right was Magnolia from '7. He saw Ava towards the far right of the semicircle, with Zaffre on her left and Roy on her right.

Moments later, there was a voice, and it shook Wes to the core.

"_Sixty… Fifty-Nine… Fifty-Eight…"_

This was it—the countdown to the end of potentially his life, Ava's life, or the lives of any of the other 22 children that graced the semicircle around the large golden cornucopia. He glanced around and saw plenty of supplies and backpacks, and he tried to gauge what would be the most useful for him. Of course, weapons were everywhere, because if there was one thing that the cornucopia would always have (and sometimes only have) it was weapons. He briefly thought back to Katniss' games 16 years ago, where the cornucopia had only been supplied with weapons. Luckily that was not so this time.

"_Nineteen… Eighteen… Seventeen…"_

Ava's eyes met with Chel's briefly, and the taller girl nodded. He glanced over at Wes, who had not noticed, and tried to get his attention without moving too much. If she slipped, they'd be scraping her off of Roy and Zaffre, as well as a large area of land.

Wes saw Ava and gave her a reassuring nod. They would make it out of this bloodbath together, and then they would figure out what to do from there. They could still be a team. They had been a team all their lives; the little brother-sister pair that had been nigh-inseparable since Ava was brought into this world. Now, here they were with a clock counting down the seconds that some of these children had left to live, before the final, heart-pounding words were heard.

"_Three… Two… One…"_

A loud gong-like noise sounded through the air, and the landmines around the pedestals had deactivated. Most tributes wasted no time.

Wes noticed Ava sprint forward. She had always been a swift little thing. What surprised him even more was that she instantly got into a fight with a boy from District 9 over a fancy-looking dagger with a lion's head on the hilt, and a red velvet handle. It surprised him even further that Ava struck the boy with a left hook, causing him to relinquish his grip on the dagger, which she instantly plunged into his chest. His sister was now a murderer.

However, there was no time to dwell on that. Briefly surveying the surrounding area for no more than a split-second, he chose his course and zigzagged straight towards the cornucopia.

The 91st Annual Hunger Games had begun.


	15. Chapter 15: The Bloodbath

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**-_Thus begins part 2, and perhaps what everyone has been waiting for. Let the 91st Annual Hunger Games begin._

**PART II: THE GAMES**

**Chapter 15: The Bloodbath**

Ava made a beeline for the cornucopia, scooping up a backpack in the meantime. One piece of advice she had taken from Vigo was that everything she did here was just a means to an end. She was not worried about the fact that everyone in Panem had just watched her murder another innocent boy. She was more worried about preserving her own life. Chel passed by her and picked up a massive double-bladed battleaxe with golden-patterns on the handle near the blades. It almost appeared dwarven in its design, but it wasn't like Ava would know that. She watched as Chel put an axe through that District 10 boy that Wes had befriended, while Zaffre, Iris, and Chaco were chasing other tributes away from the cornucopia and down the sides of the mountain.

Then it hit her—Wes! Where was he? She couldn't just stay hiding in the cornucopia for hours while there was all this bloodshed and carnage around her. Besides, if she had the idea to hide in here among all the crates and supplies, who was to say that another much larger and stronger tribute wouldn't come and cut her down when she had nowhere else to run?

Ava bounded back outside to see Chel still commanding the opening of the golden horn. She noticed Ava, and immediately shouted "DUCK!"

Ava ducked as a javelin whizzed over her head, sinking itself into a girl behind her. As she noticed this, she also saw a bow and a quiver full of arrows—that was what she wanted, and so she darted for them, snatching them up before surveying the place one more time. The other career tributes were coming back, heading towards them, with Cress from District 4 leading them.

Ava had already established herself as a rather bold and audacious tribute, and so she figured that it was time to burn the bridge that she knew had never been there. It was time to piss off the careers.

Ducking behind a crate, she waited until they were closer, an arrow nocked and loaded in her bow.

Suddenly, she sprang up, letting her arrow fly. It struck Cress squarely in the chest and knocked him down, where he stopped moving. The others froze in a brief moment of shock. Even Chel looked rather surprised that little Ava from laughingstock District 12, who had scored only a 5, had just offed a powerful career tribute who had scored a 9.

For a split second, the careers glanced at Ava and then at Chel. Suddenly, they charged again.

"Do we run?" Ava exclaimed. She would find Wes later—she figured that he had run into similar problems, only that he had probably run instead of killed.

"YES, YOU FOOL!" Chel's eyes widened as she took off with Ava down the side of the mountain. They had rather fancy footwork, but the careers were still on their tail, namely Chaco and Iris.

Ava had always considered herself fairly fast, but Chel was still slowly passing her. She was about to call out, but Chel seemed to read her mind.

Ava squealed, feeling her legs get whipped out from under her, and she was in Chel's arms again all of a sudden. She swung the smaller girl around onto her back. "HOLD ON." She commanded, and she suddenly took off running even faster, despite now having another tribute on her back.

"Y'know," Chel quipped as she sprinted with Ava on your back, "It's a good thing you're just a little 4'9" 90-pound kid instead of some 6'5" colossus." She had apparently read some Capitol data on Aveline's height and weight.

"Why's that?" Ava asked, before realizing exactly what Chel would say next.

"Because you're a hell of a lot easier to carry this way," she responded rather predictably.

Chaco and Iris were persistent in their pursuit against the other two girls, but Chel seemed to know what she was doing as she zigzagged through the trees and around the rocks.

"Where are we going?" she asked, glancing behind her to see the others still in hot pursuit.

"Away from them of course," Chel warned, "just hold on!"  
Eventually they stopped, coming across a large dropoff that led to a river below. They were cornered, and Chaco and Iris were closing in.

"You made bad choice, choosing her over us, Chel." Chaco warned, "just throw her off. We'll give her a chance to run before we have at her like we did with her brother."  
Wes! No, they were lying. They had to be.  
"You lie!" Ava snapped. "Chel, let me down. Let's fight 'em."  
"You don't want to be doing that." Iris recommended, twirling a knife in her hand.

"She's right, Ava," Chel nodded in agreement, stepping backwards and keeping her grip on the battleaxe she was holding, "Now hold on tight and get ready to hold your breath!"  
Ava gripped Chel's shoulders tighter, and realized too late that the girl had spun around and just jumped off of a cliff towards a large, deep river below. Ava shrieked, but took a deep breath as they plunged beneath the water. Chaco and Iris both looked at each other and then shook their heads, turning around and back up the mountain. They would secure the cornucopia and wait until the others were drawn back to them.

The river was fast, and Ava felt herself being separated from Chel as they were pulled under by the below-surface currents. She gripped the knives she had seized from the cornucopia but she realized that she needed air, and needed air quickly. Briefly, images of her mother and Wes entered her head. One was definitely on the edge of her seat, and the other would surely be horrified if he saw her now. No, this was still the first day—Wes and Ava were stronger than that. Ava fought against the current as strongly as she could, but only got a small breath of air before she was sucked under again.

Her memory was hazy as to what happened next, but when she woke up, she found her body completely numb below the waist, and she was soaking wet. The fact that it was raining and the sun appeared to be setting did not help her situation any. She was shivering fairly badly at the moment.

Shifting her tense muscles, she realized that the knives she had strapped to her waist were still there, and slowly, the feeling in her legs came back. She slowly pulled herself to her feet, shaking herself off, before collapsing again just feet away from where she had gotten up. She glanced around and knew immediately that she was lost. All she could see was mountains all around her, and they all looked the same. She had mixed feelings about her current situation. On one hand, she was alone, but on the other, that meant that Chel was gone.

She was shivering though, and it was getting dark, which in turn meant that in this mountainous landscape, it would get colder, even if she was in the valley. She had to find shelter—or someone like Chel or Wes to help her. Weighing her options, she decided that she'd sooner freeze to death than be found, so she called out "CHEL!"

Maybe Wes was right. Perhaps Ava would rather have a powerful career tribute on her side than her own brother. How was she supposed to know where Wes was right now though? He was probably still waiting for her at the cornucopia, expecting to see her name and face in the sky tonight when they revealed the identities of the fallen.

Ava took a few deep breaths and eventually pulled herself to her feet. She kicked her shoes and socks off, deciding to continue her trek barefooted. Hopefully nothing in her backpack was perishable, because it too was soaking wet. However, it trapped heat between it and her back, which kept her slightly warm, even if it was drenched to the core.

She trudged a few hundred yards down the river, and there on a soft sandy clearing, was Chel's body, motionless and on its side, washed up on the bank. Ava scrambled towards her as fast as her shivering little body could carry her, and knelt beside her to check the girl's pulse. Chel was alive. That meant that the deathgrip on that intricate and finely crafted battleaxe was real, and not _rigor mortis_ setting in.

In her excitement, she accidentally dropped the dagger, which was now free of blood thanks to all the water. This had been the weapon that Ava had first killed another human being with, and suddenly, she saw herself with what most tributes would call a golden opportunity. Here was the opportunity to kill the most powerful and influential tribute of the 91st Hunger Games; Chel had practically been delivered to Ava on a golden platter. Sure the girl had been nice, but there could only be one victor, and if somehow she and Chel made it to the final two, she knew she wouldn't last more than 59 seconds against the much larger girl.

Hesitantly, she lifted the dagger, her mind racing. However, anyone expecting another kill was in for a disappointment. Ava resolutely sheathed the dagger, leaning against the larger girl. Death would have to wait—Ava wanted to keep her ally. Chel was still alive, but it made her wonder—where was Wes?


	16. Chapter 16: Faces in the Sky

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _In the which we learn a few things about Chel's mentor. Many of you will probably recognize her, for she was a victor in this version of the story. Also, any questions or concerns regarding who died in the bloodbath can now be resolved-for we learn their names here._

**Chapter 16: Faces in the Sky  
**

After a few minutes, Chel groaned, and slowly began to stir.  
"oooh…" she moaned, "my head… mm… who's that?" she smacked her lips, rolling onto her back before rubbing her eyes, and seeing Ava crouched over her.

"Oh hey… I remember you. You're that cute little kid from '12…"  
"Are you okay?" Ava exclaimed, feeling relieved that Chel was alive.

"Considering that I jumped 40 feet from a cliff into a raging river of death while carrying a battleaxe, a backpack, and another tribute, and then was sucked into numerous eddies and undertows before getting spat out on this here sandy bank… I'm doing fantastic." Chel quipped weakly, "how about you, kid? You look cold."

"I'm freezing." Ava whimpered, deciding that there was no reason that she should lie to the larger girl. This was not out of fear, but out of trust.

"Well then, let's get out of the rain." Chel chuckled, "it's getting dark anyways, and surely the anthem will start playing soon."  
Ava nodded, and was both nervous and intrigued about it. She would find out who was dead, how many were left (by subtracting how many were killed of course), and who she still had to watch for. Most importantly, she would see if Wes had survived. She was still quite worried about him, but there was nothing she could do. Even Chel admitted that she had no idea where the two girls were, and so she was just surveying the landscape through the drizzling rain.

They began heading up a mountain, only stopping as Chel pointed out a cave in the distance.  
"You think you can make it there, kid?" Chel turned to face Ava, noticing that the smaller girl was shivering so hard that she seemed to be shaky on her own two feet.

The District 2 girl sighed. "I'll take that as a no. up you go." She hoisted Ava up onto her back and trudged up the mountain till they reached the cave. It was not too much warmer, but it was dry. Chel intended to change the warmth part. She leaned Ava's soaking wet and limp form against some rocks, and then went outside to forage for some firewood that was not soaked through and through. She had limited daylight left, so she was fairly quick about it. However, right as she was about to re-enter the darkening cave, something nearly hit her on the head—a parachute. She squinted, unable to make out if the number on the side was a 2 or a 12 until she caught it. It was a 2. She was sort of surprised to receive a sponsor gift so early, but then again, the Capitol had hyped her up to be the most popular tribute of this year's games, so she figured that had something to do with it. All that was in it was a box of matches and some fire starters—but that was all she needed. She squinted, barely making out the details of a small note attached to it.

"_Show 'em how it's done; There can only be one master of the arena." –C–_

C… so that was Clove then; She was an interesting figure. There had been two other victors from District 2 since the 74th Hunger Games that she had won, but she had volunteered in place of one of them, because she had wanted to mentor Chel.

Clove had been a very unstable girl throughout the games, and it did not get any better after she emerged the victor. Perhaps thanks to an influence in District 6, she took up a morphling habit with many of the others, which generally kept her rather tranquil. The truth of the matter was that she was something of a wreck without it, which Chel found somewhat tragic. When she was on it, however, she was fairly amiable and laid-back. Her primary concern this year had been to see Chel and Chaco lay as much smackdown on the other tributes as was reasonably possible, and so she didn't really care about alliances either. The District 12 girl that Chel was with was simply something the mentor chose to overlook rather than worry about. Besides, everyone figured that if Chel and Ava made it to the end of the games, that Chel would simply off Ava in one move, and win the games.

"Ava," she called out as she stepped back into the cave, "I've got some stuff." She gathered some rocks to build a fire pit, and used those new matches and fire starts to start a little blaze.

By the time Ava regained consciousness, there was a nice roaring little fire there, and the entrance of the cave had been built up with rocks to cover the entrance up a bit more, and it was significantly warmer than before. Also, she noticed that Chel was in her undergarments.

"Where's your clothes?" that was definitely the oddest part of the current scenario. Chel simply pointed to a little stick structure where they were draped over, presumably to dry.

"If you wanna dry yours out, I promise I won't laugh." She joked, "it's better than walking in wet clothes, and don't even get me started on the shoes."

"I took mine off back at the river," Ava chuckled sheepishly, also just realizing this fact, "Too late to go back and get them now."

"You gonna be alright without 'em?"  
"Sure; people go barefooted in District 12 all the time." Ava shivered again. "and I'll take up your offer on the clothes thing…"  
Wordlessly and slightly shakily, Ava stripped to her undergarments as well, using the heat of the fire to attempt to dry her clothes.

"So did you build all of this?" she glanced at the fire, the makeshift sleeping pads (which were mostly just piles of pine needles and grass under a tarp spread out on the rocky floor), the clothes 'rack', and the little rock wall that graced the entrance of the cave.

"It wasn't that hard," Chel shrugged, "the fire starters were sponsored, but you were asleep by the time I had gotten them."  
Ava was definitely feeling warmer at this point, and she was extremely grateful that she had found such a mysteriously loyal ally in Chel Colorado; the girl from District 2.

"Oh, I checked you bag too while you slept," the taller girl piped up, "You got some packaged food that didn't spoil, some rope, a water filter, a few throwing knives, and a tarp that I used for the bedding over there." She indicated the black material over top the dry leaves, grass, and pine needles. "If you don't want to share it, that's what I get for not asking, I guess; haha."

Ava glanced at the tarp—it was easily large enough to fit both her and even Chel.

"Are you serious," she tilted her head, "after everything you've done for me, do you really think I wouldn't share a single tarp?"

"Well, you could kill me if you wanted," Chel tossed Ava her dagger, which was sheathed away. "I kept that safe for you too."  
"Why would I want to kill you?" Ava looked skeptical.  
Chel simply laughed, "It's the Hunger Games, kiddo. That's what you do in 'em."

"You know that's not what I meant!" Ava exclaimed, "why would I kill you when there's at least a dozen others that want us both dead?"  
"Heh, fair enough; I'm just messing with you anyways, Ava. Let's go see if they're going to play that anthem anytime soon."  
"But, our clothes..." Ava protested

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Ava." Chel quipped, "Iris, Roy, and Magnolia are behind those rocks waiting to kill us, so we should at least make sure we're modest before we meet them, eh?"  
Ava just stared at the career girl skeptically.

"In other words, relax, kiddo. No one's going to see us."  
She had hardly finished saying that when the anthem of Panem started playing. Chel hummed along with it for a while before it faded. The sky had cleared by this time, and so Chel and Ava peeked out of their cave to see who had died and who had survived. Ava already knew a few who had died, because she had killed two tributes herself.

A few years ago, the Capitol had changed the way they showed the fallen bloodbath tributes. Originally they were shown by district, but now they were shown by the order they had been slain in. Both Chel and Ava fell silent, the brisk air against their bare skin being something they ignored during this suspenseful moment. Eight cannons went off, and the first portrait appeared a moment later.

_Jordan Finkel, District 9… _

_Ashley Ursine, District 9…_

"Wow; both from '9 ate it first? That's pretty harsh…" Chel quipped.

_Rook Jackson, District 10…_

So much for the boy's valiant effort to protect the kid he volunteered for.

_Volta Tabris, District 5… _

_Wynn Butler, District 8…_

_Megan Crossland, District 10… _

_Cress Tallulah, District 4…_

So there were still two more tributes that had died after Ava had killed Cress. There was no way she would have seen, for by this time she and Chel were fleeing from Chaco and Iris.

_Candie Rielley, District 6…_

Ava didn't know anything about that girl, and so she chalked up the losses as none too significant—until the last one appeared. The final face in the sky struck Ava like a javelin to the heart.

_Wesley Togisala, District 12_…__


	17. Chapter 17: A Grasping Truth

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Obviously Wesley is in fact dead. It's a subtle shout-out to something else, although it is not really relevant in the rest of the story or anything. Since Ava becomes the center of focus from here on out, we are also going to learn a whole lot about Chel. Isn't to say the girl can't concoct her own lies and stories, but maybe she's telling the truth._

**CHAPTER 17: A Grasping Truth**

Wes had failed; he had failed to keep his promise to bring himself home; he had failed Ava's request to do so. Ava had been the one that had been willing to sacrifice herself, but Wes was supposed to survive until then so that it would happen. But no, he goes and adds insult to injury by dying on the first morning. Those damned careers had been right about him. During his attempt to escape the cornucopia, Iris had put a scythe through him, ending his life rather quickly.

Chel put a hand on Ava's shoulder; the girl seemed to still be in shock.

"We'll win this thing, you know," she told the smaller girl softly, "I'll do everything in my power to make it happen."

"And what if that's not enough?" Ava sighed,

"Then we die; simple as that." Chel shrugged, "but I want you to understand this, Ava. If you're giving up already, I'll go give you that dagger and you can finish the job. If you want to stick with me, I'll bring you home, and you'll get to see your mother again."

"You know there can only be one victor, right?" Ava turned to the larger girl, her eyes red.

"I never implied that there wasn't." Chel shrugged again.

"But if I win, that means you have to die."  
"And I've offered you plenty of opportunities to kill me if you so desire."  
"But that doesn't make any sense! What is wrong with you?"  
"Nothing is wrong with me, Ava, but I can see you're starting to catch on. You see, I don't have any interest in winning the 'games."

"What!?" Ava exclaimed, "you're kidding right?"  
"I'm not kidding." Chel shook her head calmly.

"Then why are you still here? Why did you volunteer?"

"I have been literally training my whole life for this moment, Ava." Chel explained, "I was never even formally taught my district's industry. For 18 years I worked to become the mightiest Hunger Games tribute the Capitol had ever seen. If I win, what do I do then? It's not like I'll ever need to fight or kill people ever again. I'll just be a useless schmuck that has no idea what to do with herself. Even if I wanted to become a Peacekeeper, they wouldn't let a victor do that. We're not allowed to put our lives at risk like that. See, Ava, Peacekeepers are mostly just wannabe volunteer tributes that never got the chance to compete in the games. That's why many of them are so ruthless. In other words, we here in District 2 kind of think of them as a laughingstock, especially the victors."  
"But don't you want to join those victors? You don't want the fame or fortune or glory?"  
"Ha, District 2 has so many victors that no one pays attention to them anymore." Chel lied, though she was correct about her district having the most victors. "Think of the story we could create though—the little girl from District 12 who won the games; the District 2 girl who was willing to sacrifice everything to make that happen."

Ava froze for a moment, turning to look Chel in the eyes. "You would really… sacrifice everything?"

"What can I sacrifice worth more than my life?" Chel shrugged, "I want you to go home, Ava. I want you to live. I don't care what you do with me or my story—you can tell everyone that I was a creepy stalker that you put up with till the end of the games and then you shot me, if that floats your boat. But frankly, I think it's about time someone went and turned these games upside-down."

"Is that what you meant in your interview?" Ava tilted her head.

"That's exactly what I meant in my interview. I wanted to do something no one would expect."

Ava stared at the woman in front of her with an expression of surprise. Chel offered her hand with a smile, which Ava took.

"Welcome aboard," Chel grinned, "now let's sit back over that fire. Maybe our clothes are dry now." They weren't yet, but the two tributes did end up rummaging through their supplies to find water bottles that they could fill up with some of the rainwater from outside.

"So do you have any idea where we are?" Ava asked, letting some of the delightfully cool liquid glide down her throat as Chel did the same.

"We're in a Hunger Games arena." Chel answered playfully, "The 91st one of its kind, I believe."

"Well yeah," Ava rolled her eyes, though a smile plastered her visage, "but where in the arena are we? Do you know?"  
"How would I know?" Chel laughed, "You came around before I did. Your guess is as good as mine. The problem then is that it also leaves about 14 other tributes unaccounted for, and something tells me that at least 6 of them are allied with each other."  
"Six!?" Ava exclaimed, "I thought it was just 1, 2, and 4—and you're here with me, and I killed Cress."  
"I think they drafted District 3 this year," Chel pointed out, "I'm not positive, but they didn't seem to attack each other during the bloodbath. Every now and again the career pack will pull a District 3 tribute into their ranks, often times more commonly than District 4."

"Acha," Ava shook her head, taking the word from Vigo, "We've got our work cut out for us then."  
"Well, I think that I still scare the piss out of 'em, so we can use that to our advantage. What weapons are you good with?"  
"I'm okay with knives, but I prefer the bow. I used to use one back home." Ava answered.

"Then we need to find the cornucopia and get you a bow, girl." Chel insisted, "Not tonight though, and definitely not in our smalls. Let's get some rest. I'm fairly certain no one is going to find us here, and tomorrow we can do stuff—maybe find out where this river took us."

"Alright," Ava nodded, before looking back up at the District 2 girl. "Chel?"  
"What's on your mind, Ava?" Chel shrugged,

"Thanks;" Ava sighed, "Thanks for sticking with me."  
"Like I said," the black-skinned girl shrugged, "I've got plenty of reasons for doing what I'm doing, even if they don't all make sense. However, one thing I can say truthfully and clearly is that I like you, and that I hope you win the games this year. Your mother deserves to at least see one of her children again, especially since her eldest is already in some Capitol hovercraft somewhere."

Ava did not reply, but she put her arms around the larger girl. Part of her was still admittedly shocked that she had bonded so closely not only with a tribute from District 2, but with the tribute that the entire Hunger Games community unanimously agreed was the strongest and most dangerous tribute in this year's games.

A few minutes later, their clothes were mostly dry, so they both dressed again and Chel put out their fire, before the two girls lay down on the small tarp-bed Chel had made. Initially, they slept apart, but sometime during the knight, Ava woke up shivering, even though it was not terribly cold, so Chel pulled her in and wrapped herself around the smaller girl, which put Ava at peace and she slept for the rest of the night in tranquility.

Ava woke up before Chel, and found herself wrapped in the girl's arms. It was not constricting; in fact it was rather warm. Maybe the storm had been what had cooled off the mountain.

For a moment, Ava lay there, contemplating everything about her life right now. Her brother was dead. 24 hours ago, they were getting up and were saying their goodbyes to their team. They had hugged each other one last time. Wes, who had always been there for Ava, was now beyond her reach. 24 hours ago, they were waking up from luxurious and comfortable Capitol beds. Now, here she was, becoming close friends with a woman that would soon have to die if she ever wished to see her mother again. Here she was in the Hunger Games, where it was kill or be killed. Already Ava had shown herself to be a killer, having offed the boy from District 9, and even the powerful boy from District 4. Chel had done in at least three others, which meant that Wes and the other two had probably been killed by the careers. Ava wanted to find out who did it, and she wanted to kill them personally. She did not necessarily want to make them suffer—she just wanted to do them in the way they had done her brother in.

She squeaked as she felt something against her back, but it was just Chel shifting. She shrieked when she felt something bite her neck, and shouted "CHEL!"

Chel jolted awake, shaking her head. "damn; did I bite you on accident?"  
"Should I even ask what was going on?" Ava threw her black waves to one side to show a pinkish mark on her otherwise brown neck.

"Sorry 'bout that," the larger girl shrugged, "but hey. We're up and about now, eh? Let's get moving before something or someone decides to make a meal out of us."

Packing up camp did not take long at all, and soon the two girls were on their way.


	18. Chapter 18: The Arena

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _So it does start out a little slow as Ava and Chel get to know each other, their surroundings, and what they are up against. However, the Capitol interferes if there is not enough action, and so do not fear. I've finished the rest of Part 2, and can promise that there is plenty of action coming up._

**CHAPTER 18: The Arena**

"So tell me something," Ava turned to the larger girl as the two tributes trekked across a mountainside. They had climbed rather high up, and got a rather incredible view of the valley below them.

"We're on a mountain." Chel replied.

"Smartass," Ava rolled her eyes, "you know what I meant. Tell me about that girl and the bet."

"Girl and a bet," Chel tilted her head, "I heard one of the mentors and a Capitol lady had a bet over one of the tributes. Was that you?"  
Ava chuckled, remembering Junichi and Vigo. "As a matter of fact, it was my escort and my mentor! They were betting over me."  
"What did they bet over?" Chel raised a curious eyebrow as they walked

"Well, Junichi thought I had been holding back in my private session, and Vigo didn't believe her. I told them I did, and so Vigo lost the bet."  
She paused, "but on the rooftop the first night we met—you mentioned you liked me and that it had to do with a girl and bet. What was that about?"

"I had a younger sister—she was 15 when she went in." Chel explained, "I definitely got the tall gene in my family, because my sister was only a little taller than you. I don't mean to offend you, Ava, but you are really tiny."

"I know," Ava murmured, "I'm fairly certain I was the smallest one there."  
"I checked." Chel chortled, "You were. The next shortest kid was 5'0"."

"Anyways, I asked about the girl; not about my lack of vertical prowess." Ava insisted.

"See, girl, this is why I like you. You're promising; you're forward. You know what you want and you work to get it. If your district produced more tributes like you, they would go far." Chel squeezed the smaller girl's shoulder, stepping over a large flat rock, "anyways I digress. My sister and I made a bet that she'd be able to survive the bloodbath. She did so rather easily, but she wound up placing 6th in the 'games. It made me forget much more about my stupid bet and reminded me that 2nd place is just first loser. However, I watched it again and again and realized what she lacked."  
"What did she lack?" Ava tilted her head. This was a curious story, and the calm way in which Chel was telling it was intriguing as well.

"Fortitude," Chel answered, "our bet was stupid—simple as that. My sister lacked the fortitude you do. She was not the type to directly tell people what she was doing or how she felt. You on the other hand: if you're not straightforward with someone, you're trying to deceive them, and you do a damn good job at it. That's one of the many reasons I think you have a chance. Well, and because of that." She pointed up at the sky where a parachute—a sponsor gift of some kind— was floating down towards them. Chel caught it because of her height, but handed it to Ava.  
"It's for you." She explained, "They don't identify you by name; just by district. Luckily that doesn't usually cause a problem, because enemy district partners are not usually together, while allied ones end up sharing whatever's in it anyways. You though—this is definitely for you."

Ava glanced at the package, which was marked only with a black number 12. She frowned, for the number, combined with Chel's words, reminded her that her brother was dead. Still, there was no point in dwelling on it, and so she opened the package. Out fell a rather solid-looking compass.

"That… actually seems rather helpful." Chel quipped, "at least now we'll know where the hell we are versus where the hell we're going."

Ava did not respond, but was reading a slip of paper that had come with it.

"_I underestimated you. I guess I let my grudges against District 2 get in my way. Stick with her, kid. You've got yourself a powerful ally. –V"_

"It seems my mentor's apologizing for what he said about you," Ava chuckled, handing the slip of paper to the taller girl, who read it and chuckled.

"well, I'm sure if we wanted to kill each other we would have done it by now," Chel laughed, "we've been together for about 24 hours now and neither of us have had terribly high defenses."

Ava glanced up at Chel again. "Chel?"

"What's up?" according to Ava's compass they were heading south, still on the mountainside.

"So what happens if it does come down to you and me?" she obviously sounded concerned, for she was fairly sure that in a one-on-one, Chel would do her in within 3 seconds.

"Well," Chel glanced up at the sky, "if it comes to that… let's just say you will not be misfortunate as you think. It's far too early to be worrying about that though, Ava. There are 16 of us left."

Chel's words were not terribly comforting, but Ava decided to shake it off.

They walked for about 2 hours without any success at finding anything but more rocks and trees, with the occasional creek.

"I think we need to scale the mountain." Chel suggested, glancing west and towards the peaks.

"I'm surprised you don't want to go back down." Ava shook her head, "Look how steep this is."

"I've climbed a lot of rocks in my day," Chel chuckled, "it's easier to go up than down, and then we'll have a vantage point if anyone somehow finds us in this distant corner of the arena."

Ava seemed hesitant, and Chel looked down, noticing the smaller girl was barefoot.

"These rocks cutting your feet open or something," she tilted her head.

"No," Ava shook her head, "it's just that you're right. Look at those cliffs—and I'm tiny."

Chel crouched down in front of Ava. "Get on my back. I'll haul you ass up this mountain or die trying."

"Are you serious?" She seemed more surprised than anything.

"I told you I know my rocks, girl." Chel laughed, "These aren't cliffs anyways—just kind of steep mountains. Now hop on; let's get to the top of this thing. Just hold my battleaxe."

With a shrug, she stowed her things in her bag, and took Chel's large axe. It was heavy, but Ava's grip on it was solid, and she managed to keep it far enough away from the larger girl that it wouldn't accidentally strike her. Once Ava was securely on Chel's back, Chel began scaling the mountain with considerable ease.

"Masonry, my friend," she quipped as she hiked, "not all of District 2's industries are weapons and peacekeepers, you know. I told you I knew my rocks."

30 minutes later, they were making good progress and were near the top. The tree line had since faded below them. The only thing that stopped them was a cannon that had gone off.

"I wonder who that was," Ava muttered softly.

"We'll find out tonight, I'm sure." Chel would have shrugged if Ava was not on her shoulders. "now hold on tight—we're almost there."  
When they reached the peak of the mountain, the first thing they wanted to do was see what was on the other side. All they saw was more mountains.

"How big IS this arena?" Ava exclaimed, but Chel did not reply. Her hand was out.

"Don't get too close!" she warned. "Come here. Hold out your hand like this."  
Ava did as she was told, and felt a sort of tingly vibration. She also had to blink a few times, for she swore that her vision just shuddered.

"Forcefield," Chel told the smaller girl, "we're at the edge of the arena. I bet these mountains form a natural barrier around the area they want to keep us in. Look around you."  
Ava turned back to the view behind them, and her mouth dropped. The view was absolutely magnificent, but sure enough, the mountains seemed to form a large ring, which were surely the bounds of the arena. There was another smaller ring of mountains towards the middle.

"It's like a target." Chel explained, realizing this herself, "there's a ring of mountains, then a valley, then another ring of mountains, then a valley, and the cornucopia plateau is the bullseye."

"So where should we go?" Ava looked confused.

"I do think that now that we know the layout of the arena more or less, that we should get away from the outskirts. The Capitol likes to pick on them first if they don't get enough action."  
"But someone just died;" Ava reminded her, "isn't that enough action for a bit?" she knew that the Capitol did not want all of the tributes to die in the first week.

"It's enough for now, but do you remember how long it took us just to get here? About 28 hours ago we were at the cornucopia fighting for our lives."

"Well then," Ava looked up at the taller girl, "I want to find a bow."

To her surprise, Chel smiled. "I told you that was why I liked you." She smiled, glancing eastward. "You know what you want, and you know how to get it. Eastward we go. Hopefully we can pick it off of a tribute or something… maybe get it sponsored for you."

So began their trek back down the mountain.


	19. Chapter 19: A Game of Survival

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _The arena is a large place, and so unless certain parts of it get cut off or something, it might be difficult for tributes to find each other. On the other hand, it does give plenty of time for existing alliances to bond closer and form strategies on how to take the other tributes out. Strategy and survival are just as important as skill and strength.  
Also... I've completed the main storyline, and so chapters are now going to be posted every 2 days, give or take.  
_

**CHAPTER 19: A Game of Survival**

It was true what Chel said—climbing down a mountain was much trickier than climbing up. Still, the two tributes were careful around the rocks, and Ava's tiny size and her bare feet actually worked to her advantage, with her thick soles clinging better to some of the granite surfaces than one might expect.

"So Ava, this time I've got one for you," Chel quipped as they walked.

"Shoot," Ava shrugged, "y'know—since we're totally trying to kill each other."  
"How fast are your reflexes?"

"I dunno. Why do you ask?"

"Because I want you to DUCK," Chel warned before instantly swinging her fist towards Ava's face. Ava's reflexes turned out to be rather swift, for she crouched just in time.

"What was that for?" she looked bedazzled as she stood back up.

"A hunch," Chel leaned close to Ava's ear, "I think someone is following us, and so I wanted to know if I could duck in case I needed to throw a weapon over your head to kill them." her voice was a whisper.

Ava did not reply verbally, but nodded to indicate that she had heard Chel's warning.

By the time they reached the valley, it was just past noon. They were stopped by the river that they had jumped into after that first day, but they used it to fill their water bottles up, for it was surprisingly clean. The Capitol was not known for using parasites in the 'games, as those were very slow and unentertaining deaths; and the Capitol did like their show. However, more surprising than that was…

"My bow!" Ava exclaimed, finding it, her quiver, and the arrows strewn around a little bit of the bank, but everything was otherwise intact. She gathered it up, her mood improving right away. "I guess I forgot I had it after I washed up on this shore yesterday." She chuckled.

"Well, that solves one problem," Chel nodded, "but now we have another one." she glanced at the river, which clearly had no crossing and was quite wide.

"How are we going to get across?" Ava asked, "we don't want to get whisked downstream again do we?" the river was at least 300 feet wide where they were, though did not look as fast as it had when it had been below the cliffs.

"Get your things, hold onto my battleaxe, and get on my back." Chel told her,

"What is it with you and carrying me?" Ava shook her head as she put her things all in her pack.

"You're tiny and easy to carry;" Chel laughed, "but also, methinks you're unable to swim. Am I correct in this assumption?"

Ava looked down at her bare toes and nodded almost shamefully.

"Well, don't worry—not very many people outside of '4 can swim. Just get on my back. You'll know the right time to hold your breath."  
After Ava had herself wrapped around Chel's shoulders, the large black girl jumped off of a rock and into the river, plunging under before resurfacing. The flow was fairly slow here, but Chel swam at an angle so the girls wouldn't get pulled downstream. The career girl used powerful strokes, and within about 10 minutes, they were on the other side of the river. Chel crawled out on the opposite bank, lying on the ground for a moment to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?" Ava expressed concern for her friend, who had just selflessly carried her across while swimming partially against a river current.

"For someone who just carried a battleaxe, a bag of supplies, another tribute, HER bag of supplies, and her bow and arrows all across a 300-foot-wide river, I'm doing great." Chel quipped. Nothing seemed to be able to drag this larger girl down. "Just let me catch my breath real quick."

Ava sat down, once again dripping wet just as Chel was, and watched the larger girl lay there on the banks of the river, taking deep but calm breaths. Ava knelt down, lifting Chel's head and setting it in her lap, where she began to trace patterns into the larger girl's forehead. Chel giggled.

"What are you doing?" her brown eyes stretched to try and look at Ava.

"I dunno," the smaller girl shrugged, "just relax as long as you need. I think with this kind of silence, we'd be able to hear tributes coming. We're out in the open, so it's not like they can sneak up on us."

The sounds of birds chirping, Mockingjays singing, and the gentle river flowing along made the scenario feel rather serene, and Ava almost let herself get lost in the moment, before she remembered that she was in an arena and supposed to be fighting to the death.

Chel seemed in much less of a hurry now that she knew Ava had a bow, and so she rested there for a while. Ava sat down next to her, gazing at the large, powerful girl who for some reason had become her ally. Even 2 days in, all of it still felt so surreal to her. It was hard for her to wrap her mind around the fact that her brother was dead and gone, and she would never even see his body again, and that here she was, under the protective wings of the single most powerful tribute in the games. Two children had lost their lives because of her, and she had even received a sponsor gift already. It was weird to think that not even two weeks ago she was back at home in District 12 just living her life with her mother and brother, unsuspecting of the fate that would befall them.

She glanced back at Chel, who had fallen asleep. She still did not understand this girl's motives yet, and the story about the bet did seem pretty flimsy, but if she was doomed to die at Chel's hands, then so be it. She would worry about it when the time came.

Ava dozed off sometime during this incident, and found herself being nudged by Chel, who was back on her feet. "You awake there, kiddo?"

"Yeah… what's up?" Ava yawned, stretching to get the kinks out of her.

"Let's get moving again. It's almost nightfall, and I don't think I want to get lost in the forest by then." Chel replied, picking up her bag and her battleaxe, offering her other hand to help Ava up.

The two girls continued their trek up the valley through the forest, as clouds began to move in.

"Another rainstorm, uh;" Chel shook her head. "Well, we best find some shelter then."

"There are always the trees," Ava shrugged. Chel grinned.

"Ava, you're a genius. Axes have more uses than killing people, after all."  
Ava was about to ask what Chel meant, but the girl had already gotten to work, chopping down some of the trees with the intent of building some form of shelter. Ava stood around, mostly wondering what she could so. She definitely didn't have Chel's swinging arm, or the know-how of building a sturdy shelter. She turned to the larger girl to express these concerns. She wanted to help.

"You said you were good with that bow of yours, right?" Chel smiled, "see if you can find us anything to eat. I'm sure this forest is crawling with critters."  
Ava nodded and took the advice to heart. Sure enough, it was, and after a mildly successful hunt (a rabbit and a few birds) Ava returned to find a rather well-constructed little piece of woodwork, complete with a canopy and a firepit with a blazing fire. Chel's presence managed to dismiss any notions Ava might have had about building a fire being a bad idea. She figured that the career girl was more than capable of fending off anyone trying to attack them in the night.

"Not a bad haul," Chel nodded approvingly, "did you already clean 'em?"

Ava nodded. There was more to hunting than simply shooting a target, after all. Besides… if there was anything out there that was not a tribute, it would be good not to let the smell of blood attract them.

"Well, this sure beats eating bark." The black girl quipped, "That was about what we would have had to resort to otherwise."

Ava chuckled, and by the time they had gotten to eating, the sky was dark, and the anthem began to play, thus concluding night 2. The rain was lightly coming down, but the cloudy skies were clear enough to look up and see who the cannon earlier that day had belonged to.

_Lombardi Mason, District 7…_

"He got a decent score, didn't he?" Ava looked up at Chel as they retreated back to their shelter for the night to finish their dinner.

"He got an 8," Chel shrugged, "most of the low-scoring tributes have already been killed except the really cute one sitting next to me. On the other hand, I think she could have scored much higher if she hadn't held her skills back."  
"I performed right-handed," she nodded, "just as you told me to."

"I know that, you know that, and the gamemakers know that." Chel smirked, "but do you think Chaco, Lazuli, Iris, Zaffre, Samuel, and Alice know that? "  
"Are you saying we're going to go after them?"  
"Eventually of course;" Chel nodded, "let's get some sleep though. Tomorrow, we're going hunting."


	20. Chapter 20: The Wiles of the River

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ In terms of number of chapters, we're about halfway done with the series (there's a victory tour after the games that I intend to cover). This is a chapter in which Chel and Ava discover a bit more about the arena they're trapped in, and what's going on behind the scenes. There's more to the Hunger Games than just fighting, after all..._

**CHAPTER 20: The Wiles of the River**

It was still lightly drizzling when Ava woke up the next morning. She and Chel had not been harmed during the night, and neither had their little camp. Chel was still soundly asleep beside her, and Ava decided to let her rest. Chel did most of the physical work anyways and so she was probably exhausted.

Ava stepped outside of their little shelter, her bare feet creating soft depressions in the damp ground. She looked up at the grey skies, which reflected her mood fairly well at the moment—a little gloomy, but still bright enough to have hope for her survival.

She started a little fire with Chel's matches and fire starters, and had a decent little blaze going on by the time Chel stirred.

"Top of the morning," Ava chuckled. "I thought you were dead." This was just a playful jab at the older girl's sleeping in.

"Tell you what," Chel instantly retorted, rubbing her eyes, "you carry me across a river and up a mountain, and I'll wake up early for you."  
"But you're literally twice my size." Ava exclaimed.

"I don't give a damn." Chel laughed, "See my point, kid?"

Ava chuckled as Chel ruffled her hair, and they cleaned up the rest of their breakfast with ease.

"So we're about halfway up the mountain," Chel began once they had washed it down with some water. "I think this makes a decent vantage point. We can sink back into the river valley if we need water, and we can climb the rest of the mountain if we need to get towards the center of the arena."  
"Speaking of water…" Ava turned her bottle upside-down, where only a few drips emerged.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us then," Chel chuckled, "Let's go down to the river."

They left a few of their things behind, figuring that they would simply be able to return to their camp without incident. They descended the mountain, however, and found themselves in for a surprise.

"Is it just me," Ava stepped towards the flowing river, "or is this river deeper than it was yesterday?"

Chel glanced up and down the banks before nodding. "It's gotten deeper," she agreed, "it must be from the rain last night—but this is like at least a foot higher than yesterday."

"3 days in and we're already around a flooding river," Ava shook her head, "any chance we can get to the other side?"  
"I wouldn't try it, even if you did swim on your own," Chel quipped, "I think they want us to stay away from the edges of the arena. Still, let's get some water while we're here; it still seems fairly clean."

The two girls drank their fill and refilled their bottles before trekking back to the camp. Nothing had changed since they had left, and so for the time being, it was quiet.

The rest of the day went like this as well, with a surprising zero cannons going off that day. Thus, no faces appeared in the cloudy sky that night after the anthem played, and soon day 4 had begun. Hiking back down to the river again, they discovered it had risen another foot or so again.

"These rainstorms seem to be like warnings of some sort," Chel warned, planting a large branch into the ground, "That river is rising fairly quick each night after the sun goes down."  
"But we're hundreds of feet up the mountain," Ava glanced back up the rocky slopes to the trees where their little encampment was safely nestled. They had not seen any of the other tributes at all since their encounter with Chaco and Iris on the first day (and technically Lombardi's face in the sky on the 2nd day). "Do you really think it'll reach us up there?"  
"It very well could," Chel shook her head, "it's rising faster than it did the previous day…"

"Well if they're trying to flush us out, it would still take days before it reached us up here." Ava shrugged. "But that makes me wonder where the others are."

"I think I might try waiting another day if you don't mind," Chel commented, "I think there's a pattern to how much the river rises every day; unless you wanted to go out and fight them tonight?"  
"I guess we are kind of putting off the inevitable," Ava began, "but what's one more day?" she gave Chel a playful chuckle, and Ava's smile was always enough to melt Chel where she stood, almost like a fond older sister witnessing a child or baby sibling grinning or laughing. Chel really did feel like an older sister to Ava now, especially since even though she had not seen it, the reality of Wes' death had sunk in rather quickly.

The two tributes spent the rest of the evening hunting and building up their shelter, but otherwise the day and the night was eventless. Maybe some of the other tributes had fought a mutt or something to keep the Capitol entertained, because nothing happened to them all the way to when the sun went down and the rain began to fall. The anthem played shortly before the rain began, but even then there had not been a single cannon the whole day, and thus no tributes' faces appeared in the sky. Day 4 had ended, and there were still 14 tributes left.

The next morning, Ava woke to find no sign of Chel except her boots. This confused her, but at the same time, Chel usually slept in. She thought about it for a while, but then realized that the last couple of days, Chel had been working hard to get them safe, or had carried Ava across mountains or rivers.

"Chel?" she called out, hoping to find the girl. She decided to go to the river to continue their ritual of filling up their bottles in the morning, and there she found a barefooted Chel with her pants rolled past her knees, standing in the water.

"What are you doing?" she tilted her head curiously.

"I'm just getting my feet wet," the larger girl admitted, "but I was right about the river. Look how huge it is now!" she pointed out in front of them, and it was clearly very large and very deep now, with the tops of some trees below them sticking out of the water. It really was rising every night, with each night bringing in more water than the last. On the plus side, the river was flowing very slowly right now.

"Wait!" Ava froze, as she dipped her own bare feet into the water. "If the water is rising…"  
"Yeah, it'll get to our camp sooner or later," Chel finished the sentence for her.

"No, but if the arena is mountain range then a valley and then a mountain range and then another valley…" Ava's eyes widened, "then it's going to flood into the inner valley soon!"  
"Well, I wouldn't say soon," Chel agreed, "but you're right. We need to take the high ground in case that happens. Besides, if we don't move, the Capitol might attack us unless there's someone farther away than us."

"Let's fill our bottles and get back then;" Ava shook her head, "I'm worried about this water."

"Any suggestions on where to go;" Chel offered

"let's walk near the peaks of the central mountain range," Ava suggested, "and we need to keep the high ground."

"Good thinking;" Chel had been thinking the same thing, but had wanted to see if Ava would be clever to catch on. Her own mentor, Clove, spoke about what she knew of the Head Gamemaker, who had been in operation of the Hunger Games since year 80. Thus, Chel knew that this Gamemaker was a woman who appreciated clever tributes, and was much less likely to try to attack them if they showed her and Panem their cunning or intelligence.

They returned and packed up their camp, but did not worry much about the evidence. If someone found them and wished to follow them, they would be ready. Ava had her knives and her trusty bow, while Chel had her reliable battleaxe, and they were well-fed (at least for Hunger Games tributes) and had proven themselves competent. Chel had insisted that if Ava had shown her skills off left-handed, that she would have easily managed at least a 9; maybe an 11 or 12 even.

"This arena is so damn huge!" Ava complained, and Chel gave a soft sigh.  
"You need me to carry you again, kid?" she offered.

"No, I'm fine," Ava said truthfully, "just that how are we ever going to find tributes this way?"

"We keep wandering, I guess." Chel shrugged, "Hopefully the Gamemakers don't decide to flood the 2nd valley. Cutting us all off to the cornucopia plateau would just give them another bloodbath, and the 'games wouldn't last even a week, assuming half the tributes didn't drown in the valley."

"Maybe they'll flood it to the top and not have it break till much later?" she suggested. Chel laughed.

"Kid, you're awfully clever for someone without any training at the academies." She quipped, "Where did you learn these things?"  
"If there's one thing the outer districts specialize in," Ava smiled somewhat proudly, "it's survival. But, a really tall girl from District 2 also taught me some combat skills I want to try—let's find some tributes."


	21. Chapter 21: Hunter and Career

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _As promised, chapter 21 is where things start heating up. There are two deaths in this chapter, and the next few chapters also have deaths throughout them. Naturally, there's also bit of discussion between Chel and Ava, because even though this is a death match, the tributes are still human. They have their own thoughts and minds and hopes and dreams. Too many people (particularly in the Capitol) are too swift to forget that._  
_Also... coming up with a name for this chapter was notoriously difficult._

**CHAPTER 21: Hunter and Career**

The afternoon of Day 5 continued much the same way Day 4 had, except that Chel and Ava reached the summits of the inner ring of mountains. They could see the golden cornucopia in the far distance, and the slight movement of activity in the trees around them. Perhaps that was just the wind though rather than another tribute or two.

They began to descend the mountain, moving through the forest, they came across a very elaborate little wooden shelter very akin to theirs in appearance a few yards away.  
"Do you want to go investigate it," Chel offered, "and I'll keep watch, or should we swap roles? I just thought you'd be better at stealth because you're so tiny and I'm this gigantic girl with two left feet."  
"Chel, if you were clumsy, you'd never volunteer to carry me around places." Ava chuckled.

"Fine; you got me. But, my question still stands."

"Alright—I'll go check it out. Chop me down a branch."  
With a deft swing, Chel chucked a throwing axe at one of the trees, knocking a dead branch down which she handed to Ava. "Use this to poke around for any traps."

After a bit of poking, Ava found nothing, but other than the shelter itself, there was also nothing useful here either. She motioned for Chel to come over, which the larger girl did.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" she glanced towards the slope, and then back at the shelter.

"We stay here?" Ava tilted her head, her tone skeptical as if she doubted the validity of this idea.

"No; we knock this down to make some noise. We're going to attract a tribute."

They did just that, with Chel and Ava successfully dismantling the shelter and throwing the logs down the slope, where they rolled and smashed things. Sure enough, there was rustling a few moments later, and it was growing closer. Ava drew out some knives, while Chel pulled out her throwing axes again.

The tribute in question bowled right over Ava, and it was revealed to be Magnolia. Ava sprang back up and turned to attack the girl, who looked surprised and tense to see two new tributes. Still, it did not stop her from pulling out a pair of axes of her own and engaging combat with them, although she occasionally glanced down the mountain. Shel swung her axe mightily to try and strike the girl, but before she could, the girl coughed up blood and fell backwards, revealing a knife in her neck. A cannon fired, and Ava was fairly certain it was Magnolia.

"Ironic…" she sighed, "the girl got an 11… who threw that knife though…"  
She had hardly said this when a boy came belting through the trees into the clearing, looking equally as shocked as Magnolia. Apparently he and the number 8 on his shoulders indicated that this was Roy O'Donnell. Ava did not even give him a chance to express his position or state his status. With her arrow nocked again, she let it fly, sending it through the boy's throat, dropping him. A second cannon boomed shortly after Magnolia's, to signal Roy's death.

"Well damn," Chel shook her head, cracking an odd smile, "those were the two highest-scoring non-career tributes, and we just took 'em out like that. Are you sure you're not secretly a career?"  
Ava shook her head. "I just did what I had to. I think they got in a fight or something beforehand—look at Roy's arm, and Magnolia's chest." She motioned towards the two dead tributes as she went to retrieve her arrow. Other than the knife in Magnolia's neck and the arrow in Roy's, they seemed to both have sustained a few injuries from something or someone else before they had encountered Chel and Ava. It did not bother the girls though; weakened tributes were easier to off.

"I always thought that death would be much harder to cope with," Ava shrugged, "but here I am now in my 5th day of the Hunger Games. It's been 4 days since my brother was killed, and I don't really feel a thing. Should I, Chel? Should I feel sadness or guilt?"  
"I'm not the one to answer that," she shrugged, "I was specifically trained not to, just like all of my peers. There's a reason that District 2 is so skilled at killing other kids without remorse. I'm the same way, if you recall."  
"Does that mean I am too? You did call me a career earlier."  
"You've got the makings of one, and you're definjitely ruthless and efficient. That boy might have tried to ally with us if you had given him a chance to speak."  
"But that would just be another friend to kill in the end, right? Or maybe he would have died earlier…" she sighed, thinking back to Wes again, and all the plans they had had to circumvent having to kill each other. Well, the good news was that they did not have to kill each other (though she did wish to learn if it was actually Iris who had killed him), but he had died in the opening minutes of the first day, which in her eyes was fairly shameful, but that also meant that they did not get to say a proper goodbye. Ava had always imagined that she and Wes would be there together in their final moments, with one sibling holding the other in his or her arms as they said their goodbyes. She had not received that privilege. Someone had ended Wesley's life before he had even been able to see much of the arena.

"As Clove once told me," Chel put a hand on Ava's shoulder, "The Hunger Games are what turns a boy into a man or a girl into a woman. Kids who manage to make it out of these arenas tend to be more seasoned, mature, and experienced than most individuals in Panem. Besides, there are only 90 other people in all of our history who are able to relate to the things you have done. The rest are dead, and even some of the victors have gone the way of the world, so that number is even smaller."

Ava turned back to lean against Chel in a soft embrace, whimpering slightly.

"What's wrong, kiddo?" she hoisted Ava into her arms, since the height difference between the two tributes was fairly staggering, and a girl with Chel's strength could easily lift the much smaller Ava, who was also the tiniest tribute of the 91st Annual Hunger Games.

"Just a realization I had," she murmured softly, leaning against Chel's shoulder.

"I'm listening," she rubbed the smaller girl's back.

"Well, I also realized just now that you are very motherly," she chuckled, before returning to her serious tone, "but also that everyone in here—even the likes of Chaco and Iris—they're all just innocent children forced into these games, some with different mindsets than others."  
"That they are," Chel nodded, "but that isn't going to change anything. 23 must die before the 'games are over. Do you wish to continue?"  
"I guess this is why we need to be ruthless," Ava shrugged, looking at Chel in the eyes. "Chel; thank you. I know it sounds stupid, but thanks for listening to me ramble."  
"No problem, Aveline," Chel smiled, placing the tiny girl back on her feet. "let's get moving though so the hovercrafts can pick up the bodies—besides, we need to make camp soon."  
They had about 2 hours of daylight left, and as they walked away from the bodies, a hovercraft came to pick up Magnolia's body, and then Roy's.

"The good news," Chel smiled as they walked, "is that we are now officially halfway through the Hunger Games—only 12 more tributes to go…"

Ava thought about this for a moment: _"Both from '1; both from '2; both from '3; the girl from '4; the girl from '5; the boy from '6; both from '11, and the girl from '12—me."_

"You think we'll make it?" she looked up at the massive girl as they walked back up the mountain.

"I'm Chel Colorado. Of course we'll make it," Chel laughed, "but let's get back to the top and make camp on the peak. That way we can check the river tomorrow after the nightly flooding."  
Sure enough, the clouds were beginning to congregate as the sun began to set, but the girls reached the plateau-like surface of the peaks before nightfall. Chel put her axes to good use building another quick shelter, while Ava's bow became the tool with which she hunted. Her success was limited, but they still had good amounts of water left.

"5 days down… 12 tributes to go…" Chel stretched out once their little shelter and camp was all set up. The anthem played, and then the dead tributes' faces showed up.

_Magnolia Chang, District 7…_

_Roy O'Donnell, District 8…_

"Any guesses on when it'll end?" Ava asked;

"A week or two," Chel suggested, "the Gamemakers like to let the worn-out tributes rest if they are strong or smart, and so if nothing happens in the arena for 2 or 3 days… then we worry."

"That's far off though, isn't it…"  
"Yup; they might give us a day or two, or maybe one of the other kids will run into something. I don't know, obviously."  
"Fair enough," Ava agreed, "so do we wait now?"  
"Aye," Chel nodded, getting comfortable for the night, "now we wait."


	22. Chapter 22: A Walk on the Mountain

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ In the which there is another death, and in which Chel has a hilarious encounter with a sponsor gift. Let it be said that there is a magical harmony between Chel's wicked sense of humor and Ava's deadpan sarcasm. Stuff like that doesn't happen every dynasty, y'know.  
Also... as might be fairly obvious by now, Chel is not a morning person._

**CHAPTER 22: A Walk on the Mountain**

Day 6 was now upon them. Early that morning before the sun was even rising in the far eastern edge of the arena, Chel was woken up hen a parachute softly bumped her cheek. She stirred, blindly pushing Ava to wake her up.

"Open this." She grunted. Ava mumbled something incoherent, but found she could not open it.

"It's yours," she mumbled, rolling back over, "That's a 2, not a 12, Chel."

"Damn it," Chel swore. "Why couldn't they wait till later in the morning?" She opened the package to find a water filtration device. The note attached to it was simple.

"_Drinking that river water without this at this point would have me retching." –C–_

Chel rolled back over and fell back asleep, deciding to alert Ava of this contraption later.

At sunrise they somehow got up, causing Chel and Ava to make their way down the outer side of the mountain towards the river. They found that the water was now only a few hundred yards below and away from their old little campsite. They had abandoned said camp of their own accord, so there was nothing to salvage from there. Chel seemed just as in awe of the size of the massive river as Ava did.

"I can barely see the other side," the small girl squinted, noticing that there were trees sticking out of the water. The river was more like a gigantic lake now.

"Let's follow it south," Chel suggested, "Clove dropped me this filter thing earlier this morning, so we're good as far as clean water goes."  
"Is that what you were bitching to me about this morning?" Ava retorted.

"Yeah; what are you going to do about it, kiddo?" Chel taunted playfully.

Ava laughed and elbowed Chel rather hard in the gut, but not enough to genuinely cause pain.

"You're a right little shit, you know that?" Chel laughed, "C'mon; let's go. I'm getting hungry anyways."

Ava nodded and the two girls were on their way. They needed food soon, but they at least had plenty of water for the time being. Even with the river as deep as it was, the water was still clean and cool, and the two tributes found this to be rather delightful.

"I didn't see any other water sources over the other side of the mountains," Chel pointed out as they walked, "but this is such a big damn circle that we could probably spend hours walking around it and not see a soul."

"Or maybe we will," Ava quipped, "the careers will get thirsty too…" she ran one of her gloved hands over the blade of her dagger, letting her exposed fingertips touch the blade for a moment.

However, it was not the careers they ran into. A cannon fired off in the distance.

"That was early," Ava shuddered, "Someone must have gotten killed in their sleep. What time do you reckon it is?"  
"Your guess is as good as mine," Chel shrugged, "maybe about 7 or 8?"

"I'd definitely be asleep back home if it was my day off." Ava chuckled. "I'm glad that wasn't me."

"And now we have to wait the rest of the day before we learn who it was." Chel quipped, "let's keep moving. I'd hate to run into another tribute this early in the morning; and on an empty stomach no less."  
"Animals need water just like tributes do," Ava reminded the older girl, "if the arena really is circular, let's follow it till we start going east."

"That's a clever maneuver," Chel approved, "I underestimate your district's knowledge of survival."  
"It's one of the few things '11 and '12 have going for them in the 'games," Ava explained, "that's probably why Florence and Ginger are still out there somewhere." It was rare for Districts 11 and 12 to turn on each other because of the close bond they shared (although there were plenty who had no qualms; usually it was just business), and so Ava hoped that they would end up getting offed by someone else so that she or Chel wouldn't be forced to do them in.

Ava's intuitions served them well, and she was able to skillfully snipe some game for them to eat around the early afternoon. Chel made a fire without concern for who saw the smoke, for they were on the prowl. If the river continued to rise, their firepit would disappear beneath the water within a night. While she did this, Ava went out to collect plants so that they weren't just subsisting off game meat. She was thriving in this forested environment, which was very similar to home, so she knew what to look for and what to avoid. Chel seemed to approve of this.

"Maybe it's just me, but '12 seems about as lucky as '4 right now with all this water." She joked.

"In what way," Ava quipped, "that both of their male tributes are dead and both of their female tributes are somehow lucky enough to still be scraping by?"

"That too," Chel laughed, ruffling Ava's hair, "but you all thrive in the forests the same way '2 thrives in the mountains, or how 3, 5, 6, and 8 thrive in those urban wasteland arenas."  
"It's a gift, I guess," Ava shrugged, "With all these trees, I'm surprised that '7 didn't last longer—especially given that Magnolia had scored an 11."

"Having an advantage does not ensure success," Chel advised, "Otherwise District 2 would win every year, pretty much; maybe alternating with District 1 every few years or so."  
"What?" Ava tilted her head, "you mean to say that District 2 *doesn't* win every year?"

"Come on," Chel shook her head, "we've only got 15 victors."  
"Only." Ava rolled her eyes dramatically. "You poor things; try only having 4."

"Still better than District 9," Chel reminded her.

"If District 2's worst problem is not having enough victors," Ava retorted playfully, "they can cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it."  
"Smart aleck," Chel giggled, "is it any wonder why I like you, Ava?"

"I'm just a likable little gal," Ava giggled, wiggling her hips playfully before sitting back down again.

"You almost sound like someone named Chel I once knew," Chel quipped, "She was so strong and beautiful, and so very smart…"  
This earned her another elbow to the chest courtesy of Ava. "That might be true, but don't get too full of yourself '2… we've got a game to win, remember?"

"Right-o," she stood up, throwing a big rock into their fire to put it out. "Let's move out."  
They continued their southeastward path, with little else happening as the afternoon began fading as the sun crawled ever closer to the western horizon.

A pair of tributes managed to cross Chel and Ava's path though. Both of them had a number 11 on their shoulders though—Florence and Ginger; District 11. Immediately they took a defensive upon seeing Chel armed with her throwing axes and battleaxe.

"Ava," the girl exclaimed, "Is that you?"  
"Yeah," the tiny girl shrugged, "you two don't look too shabby yourselves."

"We're doing alright," she stayed back nonetheless, "I guess we're trying to decide if we should run or if we should just let Chel kill us quickly."

"Why would I want to kill you two?" Chel tilted her head with a curious smile.

"Isn't that the point of the games?" Ginger took on a skeptical expression.

"Aye, but I get to choose when or where I make a kill. I'm not offing either of you right now."

"That's… uh, generous," Florence shook his head. "The other careers were not so generous."  
"Who'd they get?" Ava asked curiously.

"Your brother, Wes;" Florence reminded her, "that Iris girl from District 4 swung her scythe, and then had her way with him slowly, I think… but yeah. He and the two of us had an alliance, after all."  
Iris… Ava remembered her—she had been with her, Wes, Vigo, and Chel in the elevator after the chariot parade. It made her clench her fists, realizing that she had only been feet away from the girl that would in a week's time become her brother's brutal murderer.

"We'll be seeing you around then," Ginger added, for neither of them seemed to want to trust being around the deadly Chel for too long.

"May the odds be ever in your favor then!" Chel smiled and waved goodbye as the District 11 pair made their way northwest.

Ava turned to Chel once Florence and Ginger were gone. She didn't expect Chel to spare them, so that was a peculiar surprise. More than that though, she had a new goal—a new motive:

"Chel," she turned to the massive girl

"What's up, Ava?" she acknowledged.

"I need to kill Iris." Ava insisted, "Painfully."

"I don't blame you," Chel shrugged, "but I'll keep that in mind. If I get her, I'll try and let you finish her off when the time comes."

"It's a brutal world out there," she sighed, watching as the sun disappeared below the horizon. "It's an eye for an eye in this arena.  
The anthem played as the night sky filled with its usual clouds, and the face of the dead tribute appeared right as the rain began.

_Kendryx Morocco, District 6…_

"More than halfway done," Chel nodded approvingly as they made camp for the night. "And tomorrow marks a week out here."  
"We'll be done before we know it." Ava nodded in agreement. "I'm sure of it."


	23. Chapter 23: Hidden Dangers

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ Slightly early chapter because of reasons. The next chapter will still be posted Tuesday, however._  
_I know I've said it for the last couple of chapters, but things get more intense in this one. Our heroes meet the vicious career tributes, and at least one person dies. I'll let you make of that what you will._

**CHAPTER 23: Hidden Dangers**

Ava rolled over the next morning and her hand touched water. Had Chel spilled their bottles? She jolted awake, blinking and rubbing her eyes while her hand groped blindly in the water. As her vision slowly came into focus, she saw water all to her right, infiltrating their camp.

"Chelllllll!" she pushed the older girl to try and wake her up. Chel pushed Ava away wordlessly, pushing the smaller girl over right into the few inches of water that were on her side. Sputtering, Ava grumbled and got up. This was not going to fly with her, so she got behind Chel and mustering all her strength, rolled the massive girl a few feet until she touched the water too.

Her reaction was exactly what Ava expected it to be. She sputtered, cursed loudly, and was fully awake seconds later. She wiped water from her eyes and found Ava sitting there with her arms folded and her face wet, an 'I told you so' expression on her visage.

"Damn this is rising faster than I thought." She shook her head, "we need to move and make camp, but we also need to watch the river."  
"I'm down," Ava agreed, "I don't think that river is going to take anyone with it, but the last thing we need is torrential floods coming upon us every night as they wash us into this lake."

Day 7 was eventless, and day 8 was similar. Chel and Ava spent the latter of these two days replenishing their supplies as they perched near the southern edge of the inner ring. The water had risen a good several feet during the night, and the evening of the 8th day was similar. By the time day 9 had arrived, it was only about 20 feet from touching the fringes of the mountains.

"As much as I'd like to stay put here, we aren't getting anything done," Chel warned, "they are obviously trying to close down the outskirts of the arena, or are building up to what might become a terrible trap."

"I don't think they'd wipe out all the tributes though," Ava suggested

"That's just it though," Chel agreed, "but we're on the new fringes of the arena; and so if the Capitol gets bored and wants some action, guess who they're going to target first."

"I think what we need to do is camp at the peak, even if we move out to make attacks or such," Ava suggested, "we need water, and the odds of us choosing a spot guarded by other tributes is slim. Since we're surrounded by it, tributes just need to hike these mountains in any direction."

Chel nodded, and the two of them hiked the remainder of the mountain, setting up a little outpost that gave them a spectacular view of the valley and the cornucopia plateau. They could not see much movement, but the canopy of trees rustled. There was a breeze though, so that was probably what the source of the movement was. It was not like Chaco, Iris, and the rest of the careers were that deprived of stealth and finesse.

A bit of exploration around the area yielded some peculiar berries that looked like raspberries. The field was fairly massive on the plateaued peaks that formed the inner ring of the arena, but on the other hand, both Chel and Ava knew that these could have been engineered berries by the Capitol and might have been poisoned.

"Who gets to try the ominous raspberries of death first?" Chel laughed.

"You want to rock-paper-scissors it?" Ava chuckled, balling a fist.

"Nah, I'll do it." The larger girl suggested. Ava waited, and Chel chomped a couple of them. They tasted just like regular raspberries.

Suddenly, Chel fell to the ground screaming and convulsing, causing Ava to shriek in horror. A few seconds later Chel burst out laughing.  
"You should have seen your face!" she howled, before she suddenly felt something slam her right in the gut. Ava had jumped right on top of her, throwing all 90 pounds of her unremarkable weight at Chel's stomach, with marginal success. She just laughed as Ava began pummelling her.

"okay, okay," she laughed, "I deserved that—but Ava?"  
Ava did not respond, and was still trying to pummel every inch of Chel she could reach. Chel rectified this by getting up and fixing Ava into a headlock, her legs dangling a good foot or two from the ground.

"Ava, stop." She dug her knuckles into Ava's crown playfully, "I'm twice your size. If you're trying to outdo me in brute strength you're going to get crushed. Calm down."

"You're SUCH an ass," Ava grunted, kicking her heels backwards into Chel's legs.  
"Here," she dropped Ava unceremoniously onto the ground, "let's eat. Last thing we want is the careers finding these berries;"  
"Careful; you'll jinx it." Ava warned.

She should have thought her own words better. No more than 10 minutes into them eating their fill, they were surrounded by the 6 career tributes: Zaffre, Lazuli, Chaco, Alice, Samuel, and Iris.

"Look at this," Iris sneered, "'12 found us some food!"

Without hesitation, Ava whipped out her bow, an arrow aimed right at Iris' face. Either the careers were not observant enough to notice that Ava was holding the bow left-handed, or they simply did not think about it at the moment, since none of them were using bows.

"Go ahead," Iris taunted again, motioning to Samuel and Alice who had weapons of their own pointed on the tiny girl, "shoot me. You'd die before you could even release the arrow."

"Lookie here," Chel stood up, making herself visible, "a bunch of angry little twerps taking their own incompetences out on a tiny little kid."

Chaco and Zaffre were not exactly small individuals, and so they were also slightly insulted. They made to attack, but Chel reacted too quickly. She lunged at Iris, kicking her in the face and disarming her immediately. Seconds later, she had locked Iris into a similar headlock that Ava had been in, except she had viciously pinned the smaller girl's arms and was using her as a shield.

"Go ahead," she jeered at them, "hit me. I'm sure this little shit's more than willing to take a hit for the greater good."

The careers backed off, with Iris shouting at them to not attack her. "Now… how should we kill her… hmm, I know! You killed Wesley Togisala, didn't you?"  
Iris nodded, perhaps either out of fear, pride, or some weird mixture of both.

"Well now answer to his sister. You better hope she's not angry."  
Ava walked right up to Iris, seeing fear in the small but powerful girl's eyes as Chel held her helplessly in place. Her eyes watered slightly, and Ava whipped out her knife. Suddenly though, the remaining careers trained their weapons back on Ava.

"Spill even one drop of her blood," Chaco warned, "and you die." She realized that she was not protected and mentally swore. She leaned right up to Iris nonetheless.

"Next time… we will meet again, and I will make you cry before giving you the sweet release of death." She glanced up at Chel, nodding for a moment before slugging Iris in the jaw with a left hook. Right as this happened; Chel threw the smaller girl towards the careers. Iris rolled and landed back on her feet.

"This is where we run," Chel grabbed Ava's hand to get her going, and the two of them took off running down the mountain.

"AFTER THEM!" she shouted, for Chel and Ava had taken off down the mountain. As they ran through the forest, they split up, and so did the careers. Alice, Chaco, and Zaffre went after Chel, while Lazuli, Samuel, and Iris went after Ava. The forest floor was a bit uneven because of the sloping, but Ava was light on her feet. She managed to continue fleeing until she came across a ravine. She nearly went right into it, but instead took a right, with the careers still in hot pursuit.

Chel meanwhile, was too far away to help Ava, but she was trying to close the distance between then. She couldn't see behind her, and so for the time being she kept running. She threw an axe behind her, but she was not sure if it hit anything, and the lack of a cannon meant that she probably missed.

Ava dodged a spear and ducked one of Iris' knives, but a second knife lodged itself in her arm, catching her off guard and making her lose her footing. She fell down into the ravine, hitting her head and back hard on a rock before freefalling a good few feet before landing at the muddy bottom with a crunch.

Miles away in District 12, Naisha Togisala witnessed her daughter slip down the ravine, slamming against these rocks, and hitting the bottom of the ravine, where she stopped moving. A couple of breath-holding moments passed, and then to the horror of everyone in District 12, as well as to the horror of Chel Colorado, they heard that dreaded noise-a cannon rang out, signaling the latest death of the 91st Annual Hunger Games.


	24. Chapter 24: The Master of the Arena

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Considering the... "events" of the last chapter, this one is therefore from Chel's perspective, and so the primary focus is on her at this point. Needless to say, she doesn't exactly take the death of her friend well. Luckily, the vicious cliffhanger I left at the end of the last chapter does inevitably get resolved (deaths get shown every night, mind you), but the "bad news" is that I leave another cliffhanger in its place. Happy reading!_

**CHAPTER 24: The Master of the Arena**

Satisfied with their work, Lazuli, Samuel, and Iris returned to find their comrades and finish pursuing Chel. With six of them and only one of her, they were fairly confident that they could take her down. Zaffre, Chaco, and Alice continued pursuing Chel, not even stopping to look for her throwing axe. All they knew was that it had not hit them, and so they were content. When they heard the cannon, it had them wondering who had died, but there was no time to find that out either. They cornered Chel, who was perched up on a small outcropping of rock on the side of the mountain, and waited. She blocked any and all projectiles launched at her, even catching one of Zaffre's knives. She seemed to be stalling it out until the others returned.

"So this is what becomes of the great Chel Colorado," Alice from District 3 taunted, "Alone without her little friend from District 12 and she's reduced to running."

"I'm not afraid of you guys," she chuckled nonchalantly, "I just felt like leading you on. They ARE called the Hunger Games, you know."

"Why don't you come down and prove it then?" Alice continued, "Or would you rather wait till the rest of us get back? Even if Ava survived, there's still two—"

She cut herself off as Samuel, Iris, and Lazuli appeared through the trees.

"Oh look," Alice grinned, "There's three of us. Looks like your little friend Ava died after all."

"We got her," Iris grinned, "that's the 2nd Togisala from District 12 I've had to murder. I kind of wish it could have lasted longer—stupid ravine."

Chel did not respond to this like Iris had hoped, but the smaller girl grinned nonetheless.

"You could have had everything, Chel," Chaco called out, "then you decided to backstab the very people you had befriended."

"Sooner rather than later, am I right?" Chel stuck her tongue out.

"I agree," Alice piped up again, "Let's kill you sooner… It's best not to stall things out like a sniveling, cowardly little wimp. No one wants to see the great Chel Colorado frozen in fear."  
No sooner had she said this than Chel lunged down from her rocky outcropping, swinging her axe and cleaving it through Alice's chest.

"That's enough out of you, you little shit." She spat, turning to the others as a cannon fired. "Who's next?" The others actually backed away, causing Chel to rip her axe out of the dead girl's body and step closer towards them.  
"That's exactly what I thought, Alice," she shot a glance at the dead girl's corpse, "there's only one set of sniveling cowards here. Come at me!"

Iris took the invitation, causing the others to do the same, and soon they were all engaged in combat against Chel. A few of them were able to land a slash or a cut on her, but each laceration they gave her was outdone by the ones she gave them. She actually sheathed her axe for a moment before lunging and tackling Iris to the ground, rolling and pulling the smaller girl in front of her. Chel had chosen Iris because she was the youngest and smallest tribute there. The others froze for a bit again.

"I've quite had it with you too," she whispered, and then the other careers heard a crunching noise as Iris cried out in pain—Chel had broken Iris' right arm with her bare hands. She crumpled as Chel released her, and the large girl tore off through the trees, heading northeast. Iris was unsurprisingly crying out in considerable pain, but she had friends all around her who were willing to support her, no less. She also had sponsor gifts, including one that came in shortly after Chel left, to bind her arm. With Capitol technology, even a broken limb could get fixed in a day or two.

Chel was not without sponsors of her own though, and after about 20 minutes of smashing through the woodland, she noticed another parachute following her, which in turn caused her to stop running.

She opened it and found a healing salve for the injuries she had acquired while battling the careers. She felt gratified about what she had done to Iris, and so she sat down to clean herself up, taking a big drink of water in the meantime.

"_You control the arena, girl. We can't have you keeling over from loss of blood." –C–_

Even with that in mind though, Chel's spirits had sunk. She had developed a perhaps unusual attachment to that tiny little girl from District 12 that she had barely known for a couple of weeks. Now she was gone, and Chel felt alone. She contemplated what it would have been like if she had joined District 3 and the careers—but after the experience back there, she was fairly confident that those were their true colors. They were friends right now because it was convenient. Ava had been Chel's friend because she had liked her. Chel had befriended Ava for the same reason.

She spent a bit of time thinking about this as she stripped down to apply the medicine to her wounds. She was alone and there were no signs or sounds of other tributes, which gave her ample time to clean and dress her wounds, and then dress her body again with her clothes.

Deciding to keep moving after completing this task, Chel altered her course northwest, heading towards the cornucopia plateau. If nothing else, she was going to have a final confrontation with the careers here. Otherwise, it would just be to load up on weapons.

It was later in the afternoon by the time she arrived there, and sure enough, she found food and supplies. Perhaps the careers had been here before their encounter.

"Either way, they're not getting it back," Chel smirked, and she spent the rest of the afternoon shifting boxes and supplies until everything was in the mouth of the cornucopia. From here she got a fairly magnificent view of the sunset to the west, and she used that to coordinate herself. The cornucopia's tail pointed north, which meant if she sat at the mouth, she would be facing south. She watched for any other movement, knowing that south had been where she and Ava had had their run-in with the careers. The recollection still made her frown.

Either way, Chel knew that she could not just lay down and die either, and she was determined to prevent the careers from ending her life. She thought about what she knew about them—there were 9 tributes left now: Zaffre and Lazuli from District 1; Chaco and herself from District 2; Samuel from District 3, Iris from District 4, Florence and Ginger from District 11, and Violet from District 5. Of those, Violet was the only one she had not seen, which made her wonder what the girl was up to. She was impressed that the District 11 pair had both made it so far together, and at the same time, she was rather impressed that such a tiny little girl from District 12 had made it to 10th place—okay, 11th place. She forgot that she had killed Alice a few moments after Ava's death. So 11th place was not spectacular in Chel's opinion, but it was much better for District 12 than them serving as the usual bloodbath fodder they typically were consigned to being.

She frowned, thinking of Wes as well. She might not have been fond of the boy herself, but Ava had obviously loved her brother, and Chel did really feel for Ava when they had been together. She wondered what the rest of Panem had seen when Ava's cannon had gone off. She would have been a bit surprised to see that her axe had actually hit Violet's shoulder, but the cannon had gone off right after Ava's body hit the floor of the ravine. However, she was miles away, there was no telling who was alive and who was dead, and not even Panem knew which girl had been killed. It seemed the Capitol enjoyed suspense in their sadistic entertainment.

Sadistic was perhaps the right word, for Naisha Togisala was still biting her nails anxiously, waiting for the evening to come. The notion that she was rooting for someone else's daughter to be dead did not pass over her, but she had just lost a son—she did not want to lose a daughter too.

The sun finally disappeared over the western horizon, and the arena gradually fell silent too. The rain started up again, although seemed to mostly be a drizzle. Perhaps the lake on the outer ring of the arena had not been formed purely from rainwater, but from some tool of the Gamemakers and the Capitol.

Soon, however, the moment everyone had been anxiously waiting for came. The anthem began to play, and while everyone knew they would be seeing Alice's face, Chel and the citizens from Districts 5, 12, and surprisingly, 2, were eagerly anticipating the identity of the first face.

Slowly, the anthem fell into silence, and a face appeared. Chel actually gasped in shock at what she saw.

_Violet Crossley, District 5…  
Alice Kahn, District 3…_

She barely paid attention to that one, however. Immediately, she changed her plans, and first thing in the morning she would head south. After all, Violet's face in the sky meant one thing to Chel, and one thing alone:

Aveline was still alive.


	25. Chapter 25: Finding Aveline

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _So I am aware that lately I have had a string of cliffhangers to serve as the endings of my chapters. Well... the good news is that Ava is obviously still alive (hence the lack of another cannon), but the bad news is, is that there's a death at the end of this chapter, which in turn means, another cliffhanger. Happy reading!_

**CHAPTER 25: Finding Aveline**

Moments after the images in the sky faded, Chel was faced with a dilemma. On one hand, she did not want to lose this advantageous position to the other careers, but at the same time, if Aveline was still alive, she was most likely badly injured and would need help.

On the other hand, she surely had not been the only one to see Violet's face in the sky, and thus the other careers would also realize that Ava was still alive. It was this conclusion that caused Chel to arm herself to the teeth and grab her (now fuller) bag of supplies and take off south in hopes of finding Ava. It was not like she could call out for the smaller girl, because surely Ava did not want to give away her position either while the careers were lurking about—if she was even conscious. Still, Chel had leftover medicine, a first-aid kit from the cornucopia supplies, and a flashlight among numerous other supplies. She had grabbed a fairly large backpack after all, and as a career tribute, she was familiar with easy and practical ways to carry numerous weapons without being overburdened.

Luckily, it seemed that she was not destined to run into the careers, but she did happen to cross paths with the District 11 pair again. Naturally, they prepared to defend themselves as Chel came smashing through the trees loaded with weapons. It was only when Chel raised her hands as if to surrender that they realized she was not here to kill them at the moment.

"You two saw the faces in the sky, right?" she asked them; some tributes did not pay attention to them for one reason or another, after all.

"We did;" Ginger nodded, "We were wondering who those kills belonged to."  
"So you two didn't kill Violet then?" Chel tilted her head, now slightly confused.

"Nope; we figured you or the careers did…" Florence shook his head.

"The careers would have bragged…" Chel mused, "My axe?" The random axe that she had thrown behind her—had Violet really been that close? Alice, Zaffre, and Chaco had been right behind Chel the whole time, and the fact that Samuel, Lazuli, and Iris had not mentioned an actual kill, but rather just an assumption that they had killed Ava meant they certainly hadn't killed her. It was odd, although miles away in the Capitol, it was revealed that Chel's axe had in fact killed that girl from District 5, as Violet Crossley collapsed from blood loss.

"Weird…" she finished her own sentence, "Anyways, I best get going. I need to find Ava before those careers do."

Florence and Ginger looked at each other and then shrugged. "Alright; take care."

After that odd encounter, the District 11 pair went to sleep, figuring they were safe for the night. Chel on the other hand, continued searching for Ava. She had trouble here, because she lacked the tracking skills that the little District 12 girl had had, and her hands were tied as far as trying to locate the girl in almost any other way apart from running into her. The rain that was starting to come down did not make things any easier. She tried thinking if any of the careers had mentioned anything about where they had supposedly killed Ava. Only Iris' words stood out to her.

"_Stupid ravine…"_

Apparently there had been a ravine involved in Ava's "death". It was not much to go off of, but it was something, and so Chel began her search in the dark in the rain. It was far too dark for her to recognize any features in this kind of (lack of) light, and so she had to slowly explore the growth with just her flashlight. After a bit of wandering, she came across an unusual sight—a stray axe with blood on the blade, and a trail of blood leading away from it. This must have been where Violet had died. The trail of blood ended only a few feet away in a fairly large smear, which she could only assume was where Violet's body had been prior to the Capitol hovercrafts picking it up.

Chel continued her journey westward, knowing that she had fled east when she had lost Ava. She hoped that she could find this ravine and where it began.

Sure enough, she found a place where the ground started sloping down, while forming two 'walls' around her. She slowly descended into the deep, narrow ravine, and now was willing to speak.

"Ava…" she seemed worried about what she would see. Was Ava mutilated beyond recognition and only somehow still clinging to life? Were whatever wild animals that lurked in this arena slowly picking her apart? She had heard horror stories of such things happening to tributes, and she was not sure she was ready for it if that's how she ended up finding sweet little Ava. The Capitol was playing along with this mystery, knowing that it was keeping Panem on the edge of its seat. Thus, no footage of Ava had been broadcasted ever since her fall into the ravine.

Incidentally, this was exactly where Chel found her. There, lying on her stomach in the mud, was Ava, her face to the left, almost in a sprawled position.

"AVELINE!" she cried out, instantly jumping to the injured girl's side, prying her out of the muck. She pulled a rather cold and muddy Ava into her lap, and checked for a pulse. Obviously she was still alive if the Capitol had not fired another cannon, and sure enough, Ava's little heart was still beating. She pulled the smaller girl close, hoping to share some of her own body heat with her. The night was not cold, but it was a little chilly, and it seemed that Ava's body had gotten colder from going unconscious earlier.

Chel nearly squealed when Ava started stirring, and she shifted the girl's face so that she would see Chel's face as one of the first things when she woke up.

"mm…" she groaned, "Wes… is that you?"

Chel gently ran her fingers across Ava's jawline, smiling at the girl, and more than anything looking greatly relieved that her friend was still alive, despite this being the Hunger Games.

Slowly, Ava's eyes came back into focus as she adjusted to the dim moonlight and saw Chel's dark-skinned face looking down anxiously at her. Slowly, a recollection of everything that had happened began flowing back to her. Her name had been called for the Reaping, she had ridden a train, gotten dressed in an exotic outfit and paraded in front of the Capitol, she had trained to become a killer, and was now really and truly in this arena, and her brother was dead. It still felt almost like a horrible dream, really. It took her a moment to actually grasp that this was all very real.

"Chel…?" she moaned again, "Hey… who's left?"

"I killed Violet and Alice," she answered, "so that means there are 7 others besides you and me. We've got Lazuli, Zaffre, Chaco, Samuel, Iris, Florence, and Ginger. Let's get you out of here though and we can talk later. You need some rest, and not at the bottom of a muddy ravine."

Ava groaned in pain again, being helpless to resist as Chel lifted the smaller girl onto her own back and began hiking out of the ravine with her. Gradually, she felt the larger girl stomp up a slope until they were at the top of some kind of hill.

"Tomorrow we'll get you cleaned up and stuff…" she nodded, "if you're thirsty or anything, let me know. We've got plenty of water here, even if you don't count the rain." Ava had only been unconscious a few hours, but water was crucial to maintain one's health in the Hunger Games.

A couple of drinks later, and the smaller girl seemed satisfied enough that she just curled up like a dog on the ground and fell asleep. Just as she had done many times before, Chel kept watch for a while, and in turn would be asleep much later in the day.

This was exactly what happened, and soon the morning woke up Ava, where she felt a bit more revitalized. She had amazingly not broken any bones, although she had some incredible bruises on her arm, and some of her hair and face were matted and caked with blood. Chel was snoring away nearby, and as Ava looked around, she realized that they were on the cornucopia plateau. More than that, however, was that she realized that if she walked to the edge of this plateau, she could see almost the entire arena. Glancing out in the distance, she noticed that the "river" had since become a massive donut-shaped lake that was now surrounding the remainder of the arena like a dam. It was only day 10 though, and assuming Chel had not been lying, the Capitol had just gotten two more deaths, so it was unlikely that they would be bored. She wondered if they actually planned on flooding the arena though—that worried her, for as Chel certainly knew, Ava could not swim.

She knew better than to try and wake up Chel, but a shortly after she had even thought this, the girl had bolted awake, and Ava knew exactly why.

Another cannon had just gone off.


	26. Chapter 26: The Final Eight

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _This is another one of those "setup chapters" which does not have a great deal of action itself, but is building up to it. We do get to learn who died in the last chapter, however, and perhaps who did it. Also... Chel has a wicked sense of humor, which is in turn only matched by Aveline's vicious sarcasm. They make quite the pair, don't they?_

**CHAPTER 26: The Final Eight**

Chel grunted as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Stupid tributes," she mumbled, "stop dying while I'm sleeping here, 'kay?" she lay back down, rolling over.

"Chel you lazy bastard," Ava shoved the larger girl till she was back on her back again. Chel grunted and opened her eyes again, seeing Ava in all of her filthy, muddy, bloody glory.

"Good heavens, kid… you look like something the cat dragged in."  
"Really, Chel?" Ava tilted her head, her voice dripping with so much sarcasm that her mouth was practically a waterfall. "Really? I wouldn't have ever noticed. Thank you for your profound advice and information, without which I would certainly be wandering through the abyss of ignorance for the remaining few days I have left to live."

"You really are a sarcastic little shit, aren't you?" Chel laughed, pulling herself up into a sitting position, "but you've got a point. Let's get you down to some water to get you cleaned up."  
"What about the water all around the mountains?" Ava pointed out.

"Hmm, what do you…?" Ava interrupted her by pointing off over the vista. Chel saw the valley, the mountains that formed a circle around it, and behind them, the river was gone, replaced by a massive lake. If it got any deeper it would flow over the mountains.

"Holy crudscones," the massive girl shook her head, "if they break those mountains, there will be no survivors. Suddenly I'm strongly aversive to you going down into the valley to wash up, even, kiddo."

"I'm not," Ava reminded her, "this is the high ground, and so as long as no one's here, that means if they flooded the arena now, they would kill all their tributes and would have no victor. Even we in District 12 know the Capitol wouldn't dare do that."

Chel nodded. "It's true what they said then," she shook her head, "you know a lot more than you let on about, kid. Let's make this quick though—the last thing we want is the careers taking our spot up here on Mt. Awesome."

Ava snorted. "Mt. Awesome?" she laughed.

"Just wanted to see you smile," Chel quipped, "now get on my back. You're a mess and you are not going to wander around that valley looking for a water source when I know exactly where to find one."  
Ava tilted her head, her matted hair flopping to one side. "Do I have a choice?"

"No." Chel scooped up the smaller girl and headed down the slopes towards her water source. It was a small pond, not more than a few feet deep. It was quiet and secluded, which meant no tributes were nearby, much to Chel and Ava's relief.

"Hold your breath," Chel called out.

"Huh, whaaAAAEEEEEE!" she squealed, for she had left Chel's arms and was airborne—Chel had just thrown her, right towards the lake!

Shrieking, she hit the water, flailing maniacally before realizing that she could stand. Once on her feet, the water went to her shoulders, and she felt tons of dirt, grime, and blood wash off of her. Even fully dressed, jacket, gloves, and all, it felt rather refreshing, and the stones at the bottom were smooth and thus were gentle on her bare feet. Chel waded in after her, kneeling down so that her whole body could also be submerged a bit. She put her head under, flicking some water at Ava from her hair.

"Well, you certainly don't look like something out of a nightmare anymore." She quipped.

"You nearly just gave me one, you know," Ava retorted. She should have expected it by now, considering that Chel had proven many times that she often did things suddenly as if to test Ava's reflexes or something. Ava could not figure out the entire reason for it, but perhaps she would ask later.

She glanced over at the massive girl, who smiled back at her.

In this brief moment, Ava realized something—she had not ever really viewed Chel as an enemy, even though she knew that the larger girl would have to die if she was to go home—or conversely, she'd have to die to let Chel go home. She did not like to think about it, especially because over the last 10 days, she had not simply "allied" with this District 2 girl. Chel Colorado was Ava's friend. It was no wonder why mentors would strongly advise against making friends (or alliances on a relationship level any greater than acquaintances) in the games, and death was why.

"Hey," Chel called out, snapping Ava out of this train of thought, "I just realized—we're 67% done with this mess. There are only 8 of us left now."

"So what happens when there are only two of us left?" Ava couldn't help but ask, "what if it's me and you? Are we going to fight?"  
"Nah," Chel laughed, as if she had just completely missed the point or had just purposely glazed it over, "let's worry about that later though. We've spent enough time here—back to the cornucopia plateau with us now, pronto!"  
Ava crawled out of the water, putting her head under one last time as Chel did the same. "I'm going to take a nap to catch up on my beauty sleep when we get back though, alright?" Chel asked

"Alright," Ava shrugged, "you did get rudely interrupted this morning by that cannon."  
"I know, right?" Chel laughed, hoisting little Ava onto her shoulders, "who kills a tribute at dawn?"

Chel hoisted Ava up onto her back and hiked back up the slopes until they were back at the cornucopia. Thankfully it was still deserted, but with their 360-degree view of the forested valley below, they could also check for signs of activity. Ava kept watch as Chel caught up on her sleep. Other than some rustling in some of the trees a ways down, there was no sign of activity, and before Ava knew it, the sun was going down and Chel was waking back up.

"Anything happen while I was out?" she asked groggily.

"Six tributes died, and they flooded the arena." Ava retorted.

"So nothing at all then," Chel sighed, "why must my life as a Hunger Games tribute be so boring?"

"Careful;" Ava warned, "you might jinx it."

"Well hey" she smiled, now fully awake again, "at least now we can finally see who the poor bastard was who kicked the bucket yesterday. I hope it wasn't Iris or '11."  
"Why don't you wish it was Iris?" Ava tilted her head.  
"Because I'm saving her for you," Chel answered, "she killed your brother and nearly killed you. I broke that little shit's arm, but I wanted you to administer the killing blow."

"You should have just killed her," Ava shrugged. "I don't want that coming back to haunt us."

"She'll need a few days to recover, and that's if she even gets sponsored." Chel indicated, "Otherwise that could take weeks to heal, which she won't live to see."

Soon enough, the sun was gone, except that the skies were clear tonight—apparently they were not going to flood the arena yet or anything. The anthem played, and soon the face of the dead tribute showed up in the sky.

_Lazuli Cohen, District 1…_

"ooooh," Chel's eyes lit up, "that means District 11 is on the move. I don't think the careers would turn on each other while you and I draw breath."

"Well, only one cannon has gone off, so that means District 11 is still alive," Ava nodded.

"You told me 6 tributes had died, girl!" Chel exclaimed.

"And if you were dumb enough to believe that, then I have some bad news for you, Chel." Ava retorted in a very casual but matter-of-fact way that made Chel laugh.

"Your sarcasm wounds me," she joked, "I like it. You're formidable because you're smart, Ava. I'm not one for flattery, but you are definitely one of the smartest tributes I've ever seen. In fact, I propose that you give us our next course of action. We saw how well my last one ended up. You were face down in a ditch and I was scrambling away for my life."

"I say we wait here," Ava grinned, "If they flood the arena, we'll be safe because they never destroy the cornucopia, and they need a victor—and if the Capitol does get bored and try to make the tributes congregate, they're going to send them to the cornucopia. So, we have the high ground, the safe ground, the supplies-ground, and we are the center of the arena. Let's wait here."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Chel approved, "now do you want to keep watch, or should we just bring the rest of the supplies in, rig up the place, and relax and wait for the others to come our way?"  
"I like that latter idea better," Ava grinned, "let's do it."  
They did not really rig up the place so much as they just made sure that they had vantage points and projectiles they could throw at the other tributes if they approached. Otherwise, they were content with their work and so decided to both sleep, watch duty aside.

10 days had passed, and they were both now in the final 8.


	27. Chapter 27: Philosophical Discussions

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _things really start picking up near the end of this chapter. From there, things stay pretty heated till the end of the games. But don't let that cool you off. The victory tour that comes afterwards will divulge a lot about district life, and what happened in the absence of Katniss' revolution._  
_So in fine, this chapter does start off slow (although Chel has a few profound words to share), but it picks up near the end, and that kind of action continues till there's only one tribute left alive. Happy reading!_

**CHAPTER 27: Philosophical Discussions**

The two tribute girls woke up the next morning after a good night's rest, and thus had begun Day 11. The massive ring of water that surrounded the mountain valley was still present, which in turn made Chel against the idea of venturing too far into the valleys. They had ample food and water now, and their wounds had been treated.

"The only downside I see with this waiting game is that Iris' arm will heal," Chel noted, "She had to have gotten sponsors by now if she's not dead."  
"So how did you break her arm exactly?" Ava tilted her head.

"I took it like a stick and snapped it," Chel shrugged, "you should have seen her face."

Ava wanted to have sympathy for a girl that she knew was only 14, but at the same time, she limited that sympathy because she knew that Iris had been merciless to Wes, and with the way she gloated about it, the kill had likely been a vicious one.

"So are we just going to wait here for the others to come to us?" she asked, deciding that she did not want to think about Iris right now.

"I see no reason why not," Chel shrugged, "we have the most advantageous location in the 'games, and the Capitol is not going to try and force us out. If anything, they will bring District 11 and the careers to us, where we can do what we must."  
"Are you going to kill District 11 if we cross paths with them?" Ava raised an eyebrow.

"That depends on who else is left." Chel explained, "If they're the only other tributes alive, I'll obviously have to. If the careers are alive though, then no I won't. How about you?"  
Ava sighed, contemplating this for a moment. "I will do what I have to." She admitted. "Three children have already fallen at my hand. If that number needs to increase, so be it."

"You really almost sound like a career," Chel quipped, leaning back, "Clove would be proud. Are you proud of me, Ava?"

"For what," she tilted her head, not sure how to answer this question.

"I took off my boots," she wiggled her bare toes, "you've inspired me."

"that was random," Ava chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"Ah, but it accomplished its goal quite well, I dare say."  
"What goal," Ava once again looked skeptical, "to prevent your feet from picking up a stench that could kill a tribute where they stood?"  
"No, silly," Chel laughed (for her feet smelled like forest, actually, and thus did not stink). "it made you laugh. That was all I was trying to do."  
"You seem to do that a lot," Ava sat up, looking Chel in the eyes. "why?"  
"Because it's fun to watch people laugh," Chel shrugged, "I enjoy it."  
"But you're in a death match… and you volunteered for it!"

"There are more reasons to volunteer than just becoming a killer, y'know."

"I'm admittedly curious. Go on."

"Well," Chel yawned and stretched, "most people don't appreciate things until they are gone."  
"Are you saying you're going to die?!" Ava gawked.

"Aren't we all someday?" Chel retorted, "Perhaps I'll die here. I'm not worried though… It doesn't matter how long you live, Ava. What you accomplish during your life is what matters."

"But your odds… who is going to kill you?" Ava exclaimed, "You better not let Iris or Chaco or any of them do it. And I… well, you can't make me do that, Chel—not without a fair fight at least."

"I said nothing about letting you kill me," Chel shrugged rather nonchalantly, "Don't worry about it, Ava. I will know when it is my time to die, be it in 6 days or 6 decades. If it is the former, you will recognize it too. There's no need to worry about it right now though."  
"Chel, this is not helping," Ava groaned, crossing her arms. Chel was talking in very frustrating riddles that Ava could not decipher. Was she planning on some sort of elaborate death scheme, or was she really going to end up killing Ava, winning the 91st Hunger Games, and living decades longer?

"Relax, kiddo," Chel grabbed a bottle of water and took a few shots before also opening a packet of food from one of the supply crates. "Tell you what—when 6 more tributes die, we can talk about what you and I are going to do from there, okay? There is no point in dwelling on things that have not happened."

Ava opened her mouth to object, but realized that Chel had a point. "Alright," she sighed. "Deal."

Day 11 ended rather eventlessly, with the anthem playing that night and no faces appearing in the sky. Day 12 opened up almost in a déjà vu sort of sense, with the arena being rather quiet the same way it was the previous day. If the careers were hunting District 11, then Florence and Ginger must have had some incredible stealth skills. If they were hunting Ava and Chel, then they were idiots for not looking in the most obvious place imaginable. Either way, Chel and Ava idled their time away by chatting.

"So what is Clove like then?" Ava found herself asking, "You've only mentioned her a few times."

"She's an interesting kid." Chel nodded, despite Clove being in her early 30s by now, and thus much older than Chel. "Our escort gave us some syringes and needles during the train ride, and we kept them on hand any time we talked to her. Now and again, she'd blow up on us, and stabbing her with them was the only way to sedate her. I don't know what's wrong with her, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with victor's trauma or something."

"Is that common?" Ava seemed surprised. The District 12 victors all seemed relatively calm: Lynn, the elderly victor of the 25th Hunger Games, was one of the gentlest women Ava knew. Haymitch, while often drunk off his ass, was usually fairly mellow if he had had his drinks. Katniss was fiery now and again, although placating her was done through the same alcohol-related methods that Haymitch used. Then of course, Vigo was very mellow and had a firm grip on reality.

"Surprisingly," Chel nodded, "it is. There's something messed up in the District 2 mindset that does not mix well with winning the Hunger Games. A lot of victors become almost savage, and I can't say I know why—other than that there's a reason at least one of our more recent victors was not mentoring Chaco and I this year."

"So what do you think the cause is?" Ava tilted her head, "that seems… discomforting."  
"I wish I knew," Chel shook her head, "but I suppose we've got enough doom and gloom in our lives right now. Let's talk about something happier—like butterflies."  
"Butterflies?" Ava gave Chel that skeptical head tilt again, chuckling. "You are so random, Chel."  
"But it makes you laugh," Chel winked, "and that's my goal."

Day 12 passed without incident just as well, giving the two tributes that déjà vu feeling all the way to when the anthem played. They decided to take their chances again, and so they got comfortable and went to sleep without incident.

Luckily for the Capitol, the next day proved to have some action. Wes and Ava had slept in a bit, and so around midday they were awakened by noises on the side of the mountain. Chel nudged Ava awake, no less, and Ava knew that if Chel was waking her up it was something bad.

"Grab your bow and your knives." She warned, "we've got a fight on our hands."

Quietly, Ava followed Chel down the mountain as she grabbed her weapons, and soon shouting could be heard. They gasped as they came across Florence and Ginger fighting against the careers. Sure enough, Iris' right arm was fixed, although was still bandaged.

It seemed that District 11 was putting up quite a fight against the powerful careers, but their efforts proved to be in vain. They were just in time to watch Ginger get stabbed by Zaffre's sword.

"That's what losing your partner's like, eleven," he called out to Florence, who charged them. Chel and Ava raced to join the fight, but before they could reach the boy, Samuel, that boy from District 3, had shot him in the neck with a blowdart, causing the boy to crumple. Two cannons rang out, signaling the death of the two District 11 tributes.

"Good riddance," Zaffre kicked Florence's body, "fucker got what he deserved for killing Lazuli."

Without warning, Ava sprang into the fray, blowing all cover they might have had.

"Ava, what are you—" Chel exclaimed right as Ava snatched an axe from her. Pivoting on her heels, she spun around, hurling the axe right at Zaffre.

The boy did not even see it coming, and was struck right in the chest, nearly slicing right through his abdomen. Another cannon went off, and the others saw Ava standing there, looking quite angry. Iris gave her a glare that could have lowered the arena temperature by 3 degrees, and after Chel appeared, Chaco and Samuel clenched their fists and weapons.

"You want a fight," Ava gritted her teeth, wrenching the axe out of Zaffre's body and tossing it back to an awaiting Chel. "Here we are. Let's finish this."


	28. Chapter 28: Endgame Setup

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _The 'games are not going to end so abruptly, as that would be anticlimactic. However, this chapter does a lot to finish setting up the board for the thrilling finale of the 91st Annual Hunger Games which occurs in the next few chapters, so while there are no deaths, there is some fairly ominous foreshadowing, and a few hilarious sponsor gifts in the meantime to lighten the mood before things turn dark (both figuratively and literally). Happy reading!_

**CHAPTER 28: Endgame Setup**

This very well could have been the final confrontation of the 91st Hunger Games. They could end it right here, Ava predicted. The five remaining tributes circled each other, as if looking for an opening. The remainder of the pack had all been some of the highest-scoring tributes in the game: Chaco had scored a 10, Samuel had scored an 11, and Iris had scored a 12. By contrast, here was Ava, with a score of 5, and now IN the final 5. As they glared at each other, Ava couldn't help but worry that this was not the end. Was the Capitol really going to let all 8 of their remaining tributes die like this?

Perhaps they would. Iris suddenly attacked, but Ava was too quick, and managed to block it. The two small girls were soon engaged in a very fast-paced knife fight, which prevented Samuel from shooting a dart at Ava. Chaco was too busy watching Chel anyways, for the larger girl was ready to attack either of them if they moved.

"I smell smoke," Chel narrowed her eyes, before widening them. "AVA! RUN!"

Ava trusted Chel with her life, and she proved it here and now by backflipping away from Iris and taking off after Chel. The careers remained in hot pursuit though, but Chel rectified that by flinging Ava onto her back again as she took off through the trees.

"I'm not that slow, you know!" Ava pointed out, "why are we running?"  
"There's a fire." She exclaimed, "Let's get out of these trees." She was not running for the cornucopia this time, but instead was heading for the nearest body of water. Sure enough, Ava looked up and there were large flames leaping from tree to tree. As Chel carved a path through the trees, she lost sight of the careers behind her. Feeling like she was far enough away, she stopped running.

"Ava, hop down and hand me my battleaxe." Chel instructed. Ava took the weapon off Chel's back and jumped off herself, handing it to Chel. With one mighty swing, Chel felled a burning tree right over their path behind them. It crashed with a burst of flame, throwing the career tributes back. By the time they turned to get around the tree, Chel and Ava had successfully lost them, and were on their way back to the cornucopia plateau. She was surprised that no one else seemed to look there, or maybe they did not know the easiest way to climb the slopes. Chel was not sure.

Ava had a hunch regarding what the fire was about though, especially a she noticed that it suddenly began to rain and the fire began to die out.

"y'know," she quipped as they retreated into the shelter of the golden horn, "I don't think the Gamemakers were ready for the game to end just yet."

"You think that's why they started the fire?" Chel raised an eyebrow.

"I'd say so," Ava shrugged, "having 7 tributes all die within an hour would be anticlimactic. No, I think they want to give us time to recuperate so that we can have a final battle somewhere or something."  
"Well, if we want a final battle, we're in the right place." Chel reminded her, "They're not going to destroy the cornucopia. They never do."

"Careful—you'll jinx it." Ava warned.

"You like saying that, don't you?" Chel laughed.

"Maybe I do." Ava retorted, "What of it?"  
"Say it to your heart's content, kiddo," Chel ruffled Ava's messy black hair, "you know that I enjoy teasing you. You're so tiny and cute."

"Cute?" Ava tilted her head, "Chel, I probably look like something the cat dragged in right now."  
"Actually now that you've washed yourself up you don't look too bad."Chel noted, "you and I are in fairly good shape still. The bad news is I think that Iris is too now. We gave her too much time to heal."

"Then hopefully we can find her and break her arm again." Ava retorted, "for good."

"I want to know where all my sponsor gifts are," Chel joked, "if a sadistic little bitch like Iris can get these incredible sponsor gifts, where are mine?"  
No sooner had she said that, than a parachute with a large number 2 came floating her way. The package it was carrying seemed small, and when Chel opened it, all she found was a roll of bandages.

"I'm so very hurt right now." She glanced up at the heavens, before reading the attached note.

"_You've literally got control of the best supplies in the game. What more do you want from me?" –C–_

Chel looked up. "Some new throwing axes would be nice."

To her surprise and Ava's utter bedazzlement, they looked up and there was another much larger package floating their way with another number 2 on it. Chel opened it to reveal a set of throwing axes that seemed almost designed for her. The note made Chel laugh, as she handed it to Ava to read.

"_Ask and ye shall receive." –C–_

Ava seemed surprised, but Chel simply laughed. "Watch out, kiddo." She warned, but no sooner had she said that, than a parachute softly bonked Ava on the head. This one, unlike the others, was labelled with a number 12. Curiously opening it, she found an odd claw-shaped device with a large switch that could be triggered by gripping the handle tight enough. Upon trying this, the claw shot forward, connected by a chain, before reeling back in.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, "I wonder why they'd send me this?"

"It looks kind of like a grappling hook." Chel crawled over to where Ava was sitting, "I've never actually seen anything like it, but it looks useful. What'd the note say?"  
Ava almost forgot to check, but found the slip of paper and read it.

"_you're going places, kid." –V_

"I wonder what happens if we ask for more sponsor gifts," Chel joked, "Should we try it?"  
"nah…" Ava shook her head, "I think Clove was right with what she told you. You've got this thing. We don't need to push our luck I don't think."

Before they knew it, day 13 had come to an end, and three tribute faces appeared in the sky.

_Ginger Sevina, District 11…  
Florence Hadley, District 11…  
Zaffre Jade, District 1…_

"They're definitely building up for something," Chel warned, "There are only 5 of us left. I'd hate to see what happens when that number drops to 4, and then to 3… and then 2."

"I'd rather not think about it," Ava shook her head; the idea of killing Chel being something she found notoriously difficult to stomach. It was not that she was worried that the girl would turn around and kill her; she just wasn't sure that she'd be able to kill Chel. She was so kind and so friendly. She was a wonderful person that the world needed more people like.

Chel could tell the discomfort in Ava's voice, and looked the girl right in the eye. "What's wrong, Ava?"  
Ava glanced down before glancing back at Chel in the dim light. "I don't want to kill you, Chel. I don't even want to have to fight you."

"Well," Chel joked with a shrug, "There's always Iris."

"Good heavens, NO!" Ava snapped, "fuck Iris. Don't even kid like that, Chel!"

"Sorry," Chel couldn't help but laugh, "but to get back to your original point, Ava… let's not worry about it unless it happens. Knowing my luck I'll trip and fall and smash my face against those rocks and spare you the trouble."  
"But that's just it!" Ava sighed, taking one of Chel's massive hands and wrapping her much smaller gloved hands around it. "I don't want you to die."

"Would you rather die?" Chel asked in an entirely innocent and curious way.

"Of course not!" Ava shook her head, "obviously, I wish that both of us could come out of this thing alive. Originally I had wanted Wes to emerge the victor, but after the bloodbath started, I couldn't even find him. I guess now I know why…"

"Ava," Chel put her free hand under the smaller girl's chin, "unfortunately, there's obviously nothing we can do to produce two victors unless the Gamemakers will it or something. However, I want you to know that I feel content with my life. I have done the things I have wished to do, and the stories I could tell about some of my stunts could fill a library."  
"And that's all the more reason I want you to live!" Ava cried, her eyes watering, "Chel… you are one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life. You shouldn't be here! You should be back home, making more people smile!"

Chel softly pulled Ava into her lap and put her arms around her. "Look," she whispered, trying to soothe Ava as if they were mother and child, "I'll do everything I can to bring one of us home, Ava; but you have to stay with me, okay?"

Ava nodded, still whimpering slightly.

"There are 5 of us left," Chel reminded her, "if you and I are going to avoid getting offed by these goofy bastards, then we've gotta take out Chaco, Samuel, and Iris."

"I concur," Ava nodded after a moment, growing more resolute as the girls prepared to sleep. "Iris especially, needs to die."


	29. Chapter 29: The Black-Haired Monster

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _In the which we learn that District 2 loves their weapons, and that Chel is no exception. The practice of naming one's favorite weapons is one she firmly believes should be continued. While our heroes also manage to encounter two of the remaining career tributes, the chapter title clearly indicates that someone with black hair becomes quite a fright. After all... what are the Hunger Games without a bit of terror?_  
_Happy reading!_

**CHAPTER 29: The Black-Haired Monster**

Day 14 arrived in relative silence, although now that it was bright again, they could see more of the fire damage. It was not too much, but a large portion of the northwestern forest was singed. The donut-shaped lake that surrounded the mountain valley also brought concern to the two black-haired tribute girls, because they felt that it was no coincidence that this had happened. On the other hand, they still had plenty of water, and figured that the remaining careers did too.

"The fire must have gotten them good," Ava muttered, and then glanced over and noticed that Chel had gone right back to sleep. Mornings had never been her strong suit.

Ava pushed and shoved the larger girl till she woke up.

"What is it," she grunted, "Leave me alone unless we're about to die or something."  
"You don't even have an excuse this time," Ava retorted, bunching together Chel's long hair and tugging playfully at it. "You haven't been carrying backpacks, battleaxes, and other tributes around all day."

"I carried you yesterday, if you recall," Chel replied, rolling over, but otherwise seemingly okay with Ava tugging her hair, "and besides. I hate mornings. I always have and always will."  
"Get up, you lazy ass." Ava pushed her again, but this was a mistake. Chel wrapped her arms around Ava, pulling her down and pinning her as she closed her eyes again. Ava squirmed vainly against the larger girl's grip, and then sighed in defeat. Chel chuckled from behind her, causing Ava to crack a smile.

"You are such a wisecrack." She shook her head.

"I know," Chel replied softly, "but it made you laugh."

An hour or so later, Chel and Ava woke up for real, getting ready for their day. The cornucopia still had enough supplies to last them a few more days, but they knew that the time for the final encounter was soon at hand.

"I think we're going to have to come to them," Chel suggested, "there's no way that they can't know we're at the cornucopia."

"But how do we know which way to go?" Ava suggested, "The last thing I want is them getting this vantage point while we're on a wild goose chase for them."

Before Chel could answer, a black-clad individual with a black braid whizzed past them, snatching up something from the fringes of the cornucopia supplies, and took off back into the trees.

"Who was that," Ava tilted her head, "It looked like a girl, and Iris's hair is brown."  
"Maybe she had a makeover from a sponsor or something," Chel chuckled, "but maybe going after her will lead us to our adversaries. You want to give it a shot?"

"Or maybe we'll find out who that is," Ava nodded, standing up and grabbing that lion-shaped red –handled dagger, as well as her bow and some knives, "aye; let's go after it. Maybe it's a Capitol illusion to try and draw us together."

"Excellent," Chel grinned, "I've wanted to try these new throwing axes out… and of course I can't forget about ol' Bridget."

"Bridget?" Ava tilted her head, only for Chel to flash that giant battleaxe that she had had since the beginning of the games.

"You NAMED your battleaxe?" Ava's jaw dropped, clearly skeptical.

"You haven't named that dagger?" Chel retorted instantly.

"It's a piece of metal!" Ava tilted her head. "Why would I name it?"  
"It gives it more personality." Chel chuckled, "It's a District 2 thing for sure."

"Fine… Chel, do you want to name my dagger?"  
"Let me see it a moment," Chel seemed to be fully serious as she examined Ava's dagger—the same one that she had murdered that District 9 boy with on the first day.

"Hmm…" the larger girl looked at the dagger a few times before handing it back to Ava, "she looks like a Kaira to me."  
"Kaira it is then," Ava shrugged, sheathing the dagger. "Let's get moving."

They followed the mysterious creature (or at least the rustling of the trees), until they lost track of the black-clad individual, but came across Chaco and Samuel. There was no sign of Iris, and it was not like they could just stop and ask where she had gone. On the other hand, once the two boys noticed the two girls, they drew their weapons."  
"I hate for you to have to go this way Chel," Chaco called out, drawing his sword, "Even you, Ava. You were a decent little kid."  
"Come now, Chaco," Chel cooed, "This is just the name of the game." I applaud you and Samuel for getting this far in the games."  
"There's much more to the games than arrogance and skill," Samuel pointed out, "the training scores: Just numbers; 10, 11, 12… look who's still alive here, even though she scored a 5."

"Surely you know I held back, right?" Ava tilted her head. At this point it didn't even seem like a secret.

"Of course," Samuel chuckled, "it made sense, really. District 3 isn't the smarty-district for no reason."  
"I'm curious as to how you got an 11," Chel admitted,

"I can show you if you want," Samuel offered, drawing out a long knife. "Nothing personal; it's just business, really."  
"I suppose it is," Chel shrugged, "although if you will—one last question."  
"I'm listening," Samuel nodded, with Chaco also paying attention, although also watching Chel and Ava in case they tried to pull a fast one.

"What happened to Iris?"

Chaco and Samuel looked at each other before turning back to the girls. "Iris went off on her own. She wanted to find you before turning on us."

"Well…" Ava took a deep breath, "here we are—let's finish it. Chaco and Samuel, against Chel and Aveline. No more interruptions, like last time."  
"ha, don't blame us for that," Chaco quipped, taking a fighting stance, "that was the gamemakers."

Samuel whipped out another dagger, while Ava stuck with her single one. Chel pulled out her trusty battleaxe, and the tributes squared off.

"It's showtime." Ava used her free hand to throw a knife at Chaco, who almost effortlessly deflected it, although it did exactly what she wanted it to do. Samuel went for Chel, while Chaco went for Ava.

At once Chel understood how this boy got an 11. He was deviously fast, and he knew how to use those knives. He was certainly a much more pleasant counterpart to Alice, his district partner that Chel had killed a few days earlier. However, Chel's axe was sturdy and durable, and Chel's blocking skills were pretty top-notch, and so Samuel had his work cut out for him.

Ava and Chaco's situation was fairly similar, except that Ava only had one dagger (and a throwing knife), and Chaco was using a sword. Metal clashed against metal, and Ava's agility showed itself once again. It was during this moment that Chel's words from the training center rang true.

"_Most tributes, if they have to choose which hand to strike, most will choose the right hand…"_

Chaco slashed Ava's right arm, and was successful in this endeavor, causing Ava to flinch, dropping the red-hilted dagger, which had been in that hand. The smaller girl cried out, although unlike Iris, Chaco simply looked satisfied rather than fiendishly delighted.

However, Ava reacted a split-second later, pivoting on her toes and slinging the throwing knife from her left hand right into Chaco's chest. The boy hardly knew what hit him before he dropped, stunned for a moment. Snatching up her dagger, Ava leapt up and plunged it right into Chaco's throat, finishing the boy off cleanly and effectively as a cannon rang out.

Naturally, this caused Chel and Samuel to freeze for a moment, and Samuel looked a bit concerned after seeing his ally slain. That meant it was a 2-on-1. He was fierce in his fighting, and did manage to land a few slashes on the larger girl, but after Ava attacked him from behind, he soon fell as Chel threw an axe at nearly point blank, right into his chest. He fell onto his back, dying seconds later if the cannon was anything to go by.

The two girls were breathing heavily as they looked at the dead but only slightly bloodied boys in front of them.

"They weren't half bad people," Ava indicated.

"Few of them actually are, and those that are usually have just been brainwashed from an early age." Chel nodded, "either way, at least now we know one thing."  
"Oh?" Ava tilted her head curiously.

"A girl's going to win the 91st Hunger Games." Chel answered, for now it was just her, Ava, and Iris left alive in these games.

"Like that one?" Ava pointed up in the trees, where their mysterious dark friend was back, and scampering through the trees back upwards to the cornucopia. Needless to say, the girls raced after her, and this time managed to keep up all the way to the cornucopia, where they found her hunched over a small backpack. Getting this close to the girl, they saw that her hair was braided and black, but they had not seen its face yet. Ava called out softly, but kept her distance. "Hey?"

The girl turned around, and revealed a humanoid face frighteningly reminiscent of Katniss Everdeen.

However, instead of a normal face, this girl had greyish brown skin, pointed ears, glowing red eyes, and a mouth full of sharp fangs. This was not a girl—it was a monster.


	30. Chapter 30: The Day of Reckoning

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ Obviously most of you probably figured that the Katniss-esque creature was not in fact Katniss, but just a Capitol creation. This is entirely true. It might leave one wondering how or why they would create such a monstrosity, and why they would choose to make it in the likeness of the 75th Hunger Games victor, but that's a mystery for another time. In the meantime... Katniss-mutt. Water. Iris. Birds. _  
_Happy Reading!_

**CHAPTER 30: The Day of Reckoning**

Ava let out a bloodcurdling, horrified scream that was nothing short of pure, raw terror. Even Chel, who was normally the most fearless thing this side of the Capitol, actually recoiled in surprise.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?" Ava was straight-up panicking as the creature in front of them let out a hiss in their direction, before picking up a pair of jagged, crescent-shaped blades in each of its clawed hands.

"It's a Capitol creation," Chel stepped forward as the creature took a defensive pose, its weapons still at the ready. "A mutt, if you will. It has to be—unless it's secretly Iris."

"It's wearing clothes," Ava trembled, griping her dagger with her good arm tightly, and ignoring the blood flowing from her right arm, "it looks like one of our old mentors. It's using weapons, Chel. What kind of mutt uses weapons!?"

"The Capitol makes mutts out of anything from monkeys to birds to dogs to butterflies to bees to cats to lizards." Chel shook her head, gripping her battleaxe tighter as she and the creature made eye contact. "To say that they have not created a humanoid mutt of some kind would be underestimating them. Don't cite me on any of this—this is just me guessing."

"That thing needs to die—slowly and painfully." Ava gritted her teeth, "that's one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen—LOOK OUT CHEL!"

The creature had lunged for Chel, who blocked it with her axes. She threw the creature back, slamming it against a crate. Flinching for a moment, it pulled itself to its feet and started swinging those crescent knives with astounding precision as it tried to close in on Ava. It was fighting a 2-on-1 battle, and so clearly had a disadvantage, but it was definitely holding its own. It managed to stab Chel in the shoulder, but that was not enough to deter the massive girl, who literally grabbed it, pinning it against the wall of the cornucopia, and using her other fist do clock it squarely in the face. Red liquid oozed from the corner of its mouth—blood. It hissed loudly at Chel again, before the girl realized that this creature was barefoot and had large claws on its toes. She learned this truth as the creature used its large, powerful feet to slash Chel's legs and help dislodge her footing. Chel flinched, releasing the creature, who tried jumping on top of Chel to rip her face off. However, Ava was too quick for it, and she dove atop the monster, plunging that dagger of hers right into its ribcage. It shrieked, and Ava twisted the knife as she pinned the larger creature. Even with the frightening features, she could tell that it was constructed in the likeness of Katniss Everdeen, which just freaked her out further.

The Katniss mutt slashed Ava across the face, opening up three cuts on her cheek. Ava retaliated by stabbing the creature squarely in the chest, which appeared to be mortal.

"AAAAH!" she shrieked again, still fairly panicked. She stabbed it again, hearing the creature cry out as it was stabbed. It could definitely feel pain. She wrenched her dagger back out and began stabbing the creature repeatedly, before finishing by stabbing it right in the forehead and twisting the blade as she heard bone crack from the knife breaking through the skull. The mutt's eyes dimmed, and the life faded from it. There was no cannon however, which proved that it was not in fact a tribute.

It took Ava a few seconds to realize where Chel was—both girls were now fairly badly injured.

Ava was trembling as she hobbled over to where Chel was trying to stabilize herself.

"Are you alright, Chel?" she looked the girl in the eyes.

"I'm fine," Chel shook her head, "let's crawl back to the mouth of the cornucopia and relax a bit and bandage ourselves up. What do you say?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Ava agreed, "do you need help? You're not going to carry me over there this time, Chel."  
Chel laughed at Ava's attempt at joke. "Nah, I'll be fine," she lied, crawling towards the golden horn. "Let's just bandage ourselves up."  
The two girls crawled back into the safety of the cornucopia, where Ava was met with a parachute. Seeing the number 12 emblazoned on it, she opened it quickly, and found a jar of a Capitol poultice that was clearly designed for these kinds of things. The note was also valuable information that Ava showed Chel as well—really, at this point in the game it made sense.

"_Under no circumstances should you leave the cornucopia. You have food and water, and the gamemakers are planning something huge." –V_

"How does he know that?" Chel tilted her head. "I mean, is that a guess?"  
"I'd say so," Ava agreed, "And there are three of us left—I don't want to risk the Gamemakers dragging us all together again. Let them drag Iris to us."

Chel nodded as the two girls began to split the medicine and bandage up their wounds. It was getting dark by the time they had run into that creature, and so they suspected they would soon see Chaco and Samuel in the sky. Ava briefly wondered what Iris must have been thinking. She had heard two cannons go off, and probably hoped that it was Chel and Ava. Surely her reaction would not be good when she noticed that it was her last two allies, and that now, she was truly alone.

Night fell upon the arena for the 14th time, and after the anthem played, the faces of the two tributes who had died that afternoon appeared vividly above them.

_Chaco Haden, District 2…  
Samuel Fukui, District 3…_

Shortly afterwards, the skies began to get cloudy rather fast, which worried Ava and Chel as they glanced over the arena. The moonlight, which was normally bright and illuminated the forested valley below them, began to fade as it was obscured by the clouds.

"I hope the dam breaks and Iris drowns." Ava stated rather resolutely as she retreated under the horn with Chel in case it started raining. "Actually scratch that. I hope the dam breaks and Iris finds us here."

"And then we all go home," Chel laughed, "it was a good two weeks, was it not?"

"I don't know if I'd call it good," Ava shook her head, her smile disappearing for a moment as she gazed outwards at the arena, "but I wish that it would happen."

"Let's get some rest, Ava…" Chel pulled the smaller girl in towards her. "We can't have Iris sneaking up on us in the middle of the night or anything."

Sometime during this moment, Ava drifted off to sleep, her mind still dancing with the events of the day.

To her surprise, she did not have nightmares about that humanoid mutt creature that they had encountered the night before, but day 15 was now upon them, and Ava woke up to grey skies. Chel was also leaning against her, but Ava wriggled her way out, figuring that Chel would hit the ground and wake up for once.

Well, she was 50% right. Chel hit the ground with a thud, but she was still asleep like a stone. Ava shook her head, and rolled her eyes before crawling out of the cornucopia to investigate their surroundings.

Maybe it was premonition, but within a few minutes of gazing out on the landscape, she heard a rumble. She glanced around, and saw the enormous mountains that were holding back the ring-shaped dam of water surrounding them begin to crack.

"CHEL!" she bellowed, "IT'S HAPPENING!"  
To her surprise, Chel bolted awake and scrambled out to see what Ava was talking about.

"Shit!" She shook her head, "your mentor was right, kid!"

The water began flooding the floor of the valley, and it was filling up quickly. There was still no sign of Iris, and so Ava and Chel kept watch as the carnage swept everything below them away. Just as they had suspected, the cornucopia plateau was unharmed, but the sheer volume of water pouring into the valley seemed to likely be enough to cover almost the entire arena except the plateau.

The valley was submerged within minutes. There was no cannon, however, and that was concerning for Ava, because it meant Iris was still alive.

"Do you see anything, Chel?" Ava asked her, wondering if the significantly taller girl could see anything out in the now water-filled horizon that she might not have seen.

"I don't," Chel shrugged, "so either Iris is drowning, or she's right behind us."  
She spun around instantly, swinging her axe and deflecting a knife from none other than Iris herself.

"I've been 'right behind you', since early afternoon." The smaller scythe-wielding girl retorted. "You two should really think about looking behind the cornucopia sometime."

Ava and Iris were instantly glaring daggers at each other, although Chel remained calm.

"Now, now, children," she cooed, "Clearly this was the Capitol's design after flooding the arena. This was definitely going to be the final showdown."

As if this wasn't climactic enough though, there was suddenly a loud screeching noise heard from the southern reaches of the arena, causing all three girls to turn. Iris did not even try to sucker-attack the other two.

Out from the water emerged a gigantic, magnificent red-and-orange bird, which began flying straight towards them.

"Or that," Chel's eyes widened; "there's always that…"


	31. Chapter 31: The Face of the Enemy

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _In this chapter we get to see more of Iris' true colors. She's probably fairly easy to hate given her nature and some of the things she did, but there are some admirable traits in the kid. For one, she was the youngest member of the career pack (14, even younger than Ava), and because of her intelligence, cunning, strength, and skills, she manged to become the leader of the careers no less, who respected the girl for her capabilities. On the other hand, maybe Haymitch was right. Perhaps it is best to try and remember who the real enemy is._  
_Also, the next chapter might be the last chapter of Part II, but there's a victory tour comprising an additional 12 or so chapters that I will be posting, so be sure to check that when it comes. in the meantime... happy reading!_

**CHAPTER 31: The Face of the Enemy**

Chel's reflexes had saved her on more than one occasion, and Ava's were right behind them. A split-second after glancing up at the massive bird, Iris attacked. It was much better to worry about the threat that was immediate, rather than the threat that was only incoming.

Iris turned out to be rather powerful with the scythe she was wielding, which surprised even Chel, considering how small the girl was. However, she matched it with her battleaxe, bearing down on the District 4 girl with considerable force.

Even when getting attacked on two fronts though, Iris held her ground. It was no wonder she had scored a 12 in the training center. The massive bird that had appeared now was simply circling overhead almost like a buzzard waiting for a kill. It was unlikely that it would actually eat a dead tribute, for that seemed to be one of the unwritten things the Capitol did not seem to enjoy. Besides, the most a mutt would usually do would be rip a tribute apart or something, which was definitely an option that was still on the table. However, neither Chel, Ava, nor Iris were focusing much on the giant bird, not wanting to take their eyes away from their enemies for even a second. Ava was focused on Iris, but a misstep cost her dearly as Iris struck her with the back of the scythe as she wound up a swing, which smacked Ava in the forehead, knocking her down, where the dizzy girl briefly fell unconscious.

This swing proved to be fairly devastating, for it put Chel on the defensive for several minutes until Iris landed another successful strike. Her scythe hooked Chel's axe, wrenching it away from the larger girl as Iris grinned ear to ear.

"You're mine now, '2." She leered, slashing at an unarmed Chel with her weapon. She struck Chel across the chest, leaving a laceration that caused the larger girl to crumple.

"Now we play." Iris hopped up on Chel's chest, pulling out knives, and driving them right into Chel's hands, causing the larger girl to cry out, even if tears didn't actually form in her eyes.

"And as soon as I'm done with the great Chel Colorado…" she leered, slowly cutting open a laceration on Chel's upper chest, "I'll be doing the same thing to sweet little Aveline—just like I did to her brother…"

Before she could do much more though, Ava had snapped back into consciousness, and saw the rather horrifying sight of Iris slowly attempting to eviscerate Chel. To top it off, she had also heard Iris' taunt of what she had done to her brother Wes, and that was enough to set the District 12 girl off.

"NO!" she roared, "I did NOT get this far just to let you torture her!" she threw herself at the smaller girl, knocking her off and away from the now injured Chel.

Ava's fury had been underestimated, and she had successfully disarmed Iris by slamming into her. Both girls were fighting with nothing but bare fists, as Chel looked on, trying to stagger to her feet. Considering the state of her hands, this proved to be easier said than done. Iris slugged Ava right between the eyes, and Ava rolled them over and slammed Iris' head against the ground repeatedly before elbowing her in the chest. Iris yanked Ava's hair, sinking her teeth into Ava's shoulder as her neck was exposed. Ava screamed as she felt blood drawn, but using her left arm, which had not yet been injured throughout the entire games, she dug her fingernails into Iris' neck. Iris recoiled before rolling with Ava off the edge of the plateau towards the water.

This was where she made her first mistake. Ava managed to get the upper hand, slamming Iris face down, pulling her towards the water's edge. Iris tried flinging Ava off of her, but instead it just rolled them to the point where the water, which was actually about a foot deep right near the shore, lapped against their fingers and toes. Seizing her chance, Ava threw all 90 pounds of her weight onto Iris' shoulders, gripping the younger girl's head with both arms.

Ava shoved Iris' face under water, where the girl immediately began struggling. Ava's strength and positioning had the girl right where she wanted her. For several seconds, she held Iris' face under the water as her body struggled for air, but instead of letting her die outright, Ava pulled her up, where she gasped for air, where she took sadistic pleasure in tormenting her foe.

"I've been wanting to do this for SO long," Ava growled through gritted teeth before she slammed Iris' face back into the water again. This happened three more times, with Iris getting weaker and dizzier each time before she finally stopped resisting altogether.

"Need a hand," said a soft voice from behind her. Ava turned to see a very bloody Chel.

Ava lifted Iris out of the water, where the injured and now very waterlogged girl moaned, offering no resistance. Ava struck the girl across the face and caused her to flip and fall motionless onto her back, moaning in pain and breathing heavily but weakly.

"just hold her," Ava ordered, "well, if you can—holy shit, Chel; What happened to your hands?!"  
Chel did not respond, but pointed to Iris. Ava's face tensed up, but she did not explode.

"Hold her steady," Ava ordered, "I'll be right back."  
She returned with her dagger and the remainder of the medicine, applying it to at least Chel's hands before bandaging them up. Iris was still out of it, but she was coming back around. Naturally, after feeling herself restrained by a large pair of (now bandaged) hands, she panicked. It was not any better for her when she saw Ava grimacing at her, or that the District 12 girl began punching her in the gut repeatedly, causing her to cry out as the wind was repeatedly knocked out of her.

"This is where it ends, Iris." Ava pulled out that red-hilted dagger. "This is going to be slow, and painful—just like the way you killed Wesley."

This was actually a lie, and as Ava watched Iris' face sink, she knew that she would have to just end it quickly. No, she had always expected Iris to go down with fire and malice in her eyes, but seeing her in such a wretched, frightened state struck a powerful chord with Ava in ways she could not explain. Here she was, gazing into the face of her enemy, who was now subdued and at her mercy. This was not a born killer—this was a young girl forced into the same life-and-death situation that Chel and Ava had been put in, and she was fighting to survive. There was obvious fear in her eyes as the girl anticipated a slow and painful death from her adversary. She tried vainly to struggle free from Chel's iron grip, but to no avail. Tears formed in her eyes as she whimpered, knowing she was defeated.

"Iris…" Ava whispered, looking the terrified girl right in the eyes. It was almost hard for Ava to believe that this was the same face of the fierce and ruthless girl that, only a few minutes ago, had been rampaging through the arena, commanding strength and skill as she fought off tributes, and successfully outlived 21 of them.

"Just do it already!" Iris cried, trembling slightly, "kill me now!" she looked up at Chel, as if hoping the larger girl would do something, but she simply shook her head. "…please?"

"You're in Ava's hands now." The black girl stated in the most neutral tone Ava had ever heard from her.

"I'm not going to drag it out." Ava placed the dagger with the point right on Iris' sternum. "I always imagined it would end differently, Iris … I do not by any means forgive you for whatever atrocious way you slew my brother… but like I said—I am here to end this."

Iris took another shaky breath, rather surprised at Ava's words. "Do it." She sighed. "I have… nothing… more… to say…"

"Goodbye, Iris Durango." Ava took a deep breath, before pushing down on her dagger, sinking it through Iris' chest. The girl's eyes widened for a moment, before they closed, and she stopped moving. A cannon blared, and moments later, a face appeared in the sky.

_Iris Durango, District 4…_

There was a moment of silence before Ava glanced over at Chel, realizing what she had just done as the larger girl laid Iris' motionless body down, staggering to her feet. She had very mixed feelings, and hated Iris because of it. On one hand, she despised what Iris had done, but torturing her before killing her seemed a little much. Luckily Chel took her mind off of it.

"Hey," the massive girl seemed fairly calm, "how much more of that medicine do you have, Ava?"

Ava flashed the empty bottle. She didn't know what the poultice was made of, other than that it was effective at stopping bleeding, which Chel appeared to still be doing apart from her bandaged hands.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked, clearly concerned for her friend.

"I'll be fine," Chel shrugged, "besides… we've got that thing up there to worry about," she pointed upwards to where that gigantic red and orange bird was still circling about, "it's only a matter of time before it comes down to greet us and try to rip us to pieces."  
"But then how will the Capitol get their victor?" Ava tilted her head.  
"I guess whichever of us gets maimed the least. First one to die of blood loss loses." Chel joked.

"Chel, that's not even funny," Ava sighed, before turning and widening her eyes.

The gigantic fiery bird was no longer circling them overhead. It was swooping down, talons open, coming directly for them. Ava felt her feet leave the ground as Chel grunted.

"CHEL!?" Ava screamed, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"  
"Hold on to your grappling hook and brace yourself!" Chel responded, heaving Ava right towards the approaching beast. Ava opened the hook and fired at the bird, cringing before she even made contact.


	32. Chapter 32: The Victor

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Normally I am not one to suggest a musical piece to accompany a piece of reading, but there is one song that just fits so perfectly for this chapter: "Muttations" (Track 17) From the Hunger Games Film Score-particularly starting at about 1:08. Also... while this might be the end of the Games, stay tuned for the victory tour which comprises an additional 12 chapters that will be posted daily. And then... a sequel._  
_With that said though... welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to what is arguably the most intense chapter of "The 91st Annual Hunger Games." This is, by all means, the grand finale of the games, and this is where it all comes together. The horrors of the arena are over, and the victor is revealed._  
_Happy reading!_

**CHAPTER 32: The Victor**

Ava screamed as she went airborne right as the gigantic bird swooped through. She collided with a field of red and orange, and suddenly was not sure where she was.

The Gamemakers were watching the holographic map of the arena, which was much easier to follow now that there were only two tributes and a giant phoenix-esque mutt on the field. However, right as the bird swooped down and back up again, the hologram's movements became very choppy and erratic. That, and the little number 12 that marked one of the tributes, seemed to have stuck to the bird. The microscopic cameras on the creature could not show anything other than the bird's erratic movements. Had it swallowed the girl whole; was she still alive? Her tracker was still functioning, obviously.

"Get me a full view of that bird, stat!" Zurok, the head Gamemaker, ordered. Within seconds, the bird was back on the screen, and suddenly its erratic behavior was explained.

"Well, I'll be damned…" Zurok grinned ear to ear, putting her hands together. Clinging desperately to the bird's fiery plumage was Ava, her knife in one hand, and both hands tightly clinging to the bird, who was clearly trying to shake the girl off. It had actually succeeded at one point, but Ava squeezed the trigger of her weapon to make the hook and chain shoot out, where it latched onto the mutt's side. Ava released the switch, which reeled in the chain in and pulled Ava back onto the bird, where she kept a deathgrip on that grappling hook and on "Kaira", her dagger.

The wild antics of this show were enough to keep almost the entirety of Panem on the edge of their seats. Here was this tiny, unassuming little girl, clinging to the feathers of a gigantic and magnificent bird that had been hellbent on tearing her apart. Here had been a little girl with a training score of 5, from the poorest district of Panem, and now she was one of the final two tributes, fighting for her life and to protect her friend.

Ava began climbing the creature's back, plunging her blade and the hook into the bird's flesh as she approached the neck, both to agitate it, and to keep a grip on it. It jerked around much less when her knife was embedded in its skin. She was getting rather dizzy considering that the bird was lurching and spinning and spiraling through the air to try to shake her off. However, Ava, as she had revealed over the last 15 days, was stubborn, persistent, and one of the most resilient little kids the Capitol had ever seen.

For several long, intense minutes, Ava waged war against this vicious bird, wrenching her knife this way and that, and gripping it and the bird's plumage intently, doing everything in her power to stay on.

The firebird did a flip in the air, and Ava actually fell from it again, this time dropping her grappling hook. All of Panem simultaneously gasped during this split second. Instead of plunging to her death, Ava had managed to grab one of the creature's talons. The bird swung its leg to try and throw Ava off, but instead it just flipped the tiny tribute girl right back onto its neck.

Slowly, Ava made her way towards the bird's head, now wrapping her arms and legs resolutely around the creature's slender neck. Perhaps the mutt knew that its time was drawing to a close, because it suddenly altered its course and began flying straight up.

Ava knew that the higher it got, the greater danger she would be in when she slew this monster. She had to make this quick. Inching her way up the bird's neck, she reached his eyes, and lifted her dagger to finish the job. With a scream, she plunged her blade right into the bird's skull and thus its brain, where it let out one final bloodcurdling squawk before ceasing its increase in altitude. Ava braced herself for what she knew would be an incredible fall.

She plunged hundreds of feet down, still staying atop the giant bird, hoping to use it to pad her own fall. It spiraled down towards the small cornucopia island (for it was definitely no longer a plateau thanks to all the water around it). Ava screamed all the way down, but miraculously, the gigantic bird hit the ground before Ava did, and it shielded most of her fall. Instead of splattering across the dirt and rocks, Ava simply tumbled off of the bird, a little roughed up and dazed, but otherwise okay.

Slowly shaking herself off, she got up to look for Chel. She found the larger girl leaned up against some crates, but the career girl was still bleeding rather profusely from her chest and legs. Her black skin even looked a little paler, and her eyes were bloodshot.

"Chel!" Ava cried out, instantly at the larger girl's side. "are you okay?"  
"I think there was something poisonous on Iris's blades," the older girl wheezed, cracking a smile, oddly enough "but hey… I have to hand it to you, Ava. That was some fine performance up in the sky."

"Chel, stay with me!" Ava cried out, taking the girl's hands.

"Why, Ava," Chel gazed up into Ava's eyes, "There can only be one victor. Would you… would you rather that we have to fight to the death?"

"I don't want to kill you like this, Chel." Ava whimpered.

"Well, Ava… remember my words at the beginning of the games?"

"You've said a lot of things. Which words were these?"  
"I promised you that I would do anything in my power to ensure you went home."  
"You're not telling me that you let Iris wound you on purpose, are you?" Ava grabbed Chel's shoulders.

"Ha, of course not," Chel shook her head, still smiling calmly. "She earned a 12, you know. She was strong and skilled at what she did. Apparently… she just thought I was a… a larger threat."  
Chel's strength was depleting, and it hurt Ava more than ever to see.

"Chel…" Ava sighed, "you're the most amazing person I've ever met. To kill you… I… I just can't…"  
tears formed in the smaller girl's eyes. "Chel, I'm in your debt. You deserve to win these games, not me. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead 10 times over. What have I done other than hold your battleaxe when you carried me across rivers?"

"Actually," Chel began, "you've done more than you realize, Ava. Your survival skills… your ability to hunt, to track, to find water… those are skills that I needed. Besides… you saved me from Iris earlier. Thus, we can have this conversation. Friendships are about give and take, Aveline Togisala."

"And now you want me to take your life?" Ava shook her head, "Chel, I can't do that!"

"Ava, please," Chel pleaded, "first off, as I have told you… my life has been built to culminate at this point. Secondly… the pain from that poison or toxin… or whatever it was… it's hard to move, Ava. Killing me now would just put me at peace. You did it Ava—you won the games."

"Why does my victory feel so hollow then?" Ava's eyes watered again. "Chel, I…"  
Chel reached out and took Ava's hand, which was still holding the dagger. She placed it over her chest, right between her breasts the way Ava had done with Iris earlier.

"Ava, please." She whispered, "This is a selfish thing to ask… but please do this for me."

Ava started crying, throwing her arms around Chel one last time. The larger girl weakly returned it, even giving Ava a little kiss on the forehead. She also whispered something into Ava's ear.

"_The spirit of liberation in District 2 is not dead."_

Ava simply nodded, and Chel's hands took the dagger and placed it back on her chest once again.

"Goodbye, Aveline." She smiled softly. "You were the most amazing little girl I ever met."  
Ava hesitated to push the dagger, and was grateful she did, for a moment later, Chel reached into her pocket and pulled out a small necklace with a beautiful turquoise stone set in it.

"Take this." Chel said softly, "do what you will with it…"  
"Where were you hiding that?" Ava looked skeptical.  
"If I wore it, someone could have… come back and strangled me or something," Chel chuckled, "but I apologize for the interruption. Ava… if you would please…"  
Ava pocketed the necklace and then then set her free hand back on the dagger. However, she hesitated again. "Chel!" she cried, "your life… your life is so short!"

"Remember, Ava," Chel wheezed in reassurance, "It doesn't matter how long you live. What you accomplish during your life is what matters. Please… do this for me; for you; for your mother to see her child again. I have done what I have needed to do."

There was a moment of silence, and Chel and Ava's eyes met once again.

"Goodbye, Aveline." Chel smiled sweetly, closing her eyes.

"goodbye, Chel…" Ava cried, and taking a deep breath, she pushed down on the dagger, sinking it into Chel's vitals. The weakened District 2 girl died instantly, for the cannon went off a second later.

Ava looked into the darkened grey skies, and broke down crying upon seeing the face that appeared.

_Chel Colorado, District 2…_

It was weird. Ava had not cried this much when she saw Wes' face. It was more of a shock thing for her. But Chel… Chel was the kind of selfless individual that everyone wanted in a sibling or a friend. Ava would definitely miss her intensely.

Suddenly, shortly after Chel's face appeared, another face showed up in the sky: her own.

_Aveline Togisala, District 12…_

This didn't make sense! Did they think she had died? Had her tracker malfunctioned? No… she could not just stay here in the arena alone and abandoned. How could the Capitol think this?!

"Hey!" she shouted, standing up and waving her arms. "Hey! I'm right here! I'm alive! I'm—"

She was silenced only after a fiery word appeared beneath her name and picture.

_VICTOR._

"Ladies and gentlemen," Ava heard an announcement over a loudspeaker. "The victor of the 91st Annual Hunger Games: Aveline Togisala of District 12."

It didn't really hit her until she heard the announcement. She had won the Hunger Games. She was going home to see her mother; to see District 12; to see Katniss and Vigo again.

Aveline was now the 5th victor from District 12.


	33. Chapter 33: A Child Transformed

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _And thus begins Part III of the story. There is obviously much less action and a lot more exposition, but fear not. We get to see a rather interesting side of some of the districts as well as some of the characters, as well as the groundwork that gets laid for the sequel._  
_Also, I am sure many of you noticed that this story claims to feature Katniss and Clove. Part III is where we get to see a bit of them and how their lives as victors have treated them._

**PART III: THE LEGACY**

**CHAPTER 33: A Child Transformed**

Moments later, a Capitol hovercraft came to pick up the bodies of Iris and Chel, while another one was coming up behind it, surely to pick up Ava. It was rather emotionally wrenching to watch them lift up Iris' limp form. Motionless and with closed eyes, Iris seemed so serene; so tranquil. What really stood out to her though was just how young that girl actually was. Ava remembered that despite the girl's skill and her cunning, as well as the charisma she had to lead the career pack this year, that Iris Durango was only 14 years old. Ava was older than her.

Ava broke down sobbing when they picked up Chel. Her calm, gentle smile was still on her face as Ava watched the girl's body be lifted away. Only moments ago, they had been conversing together about a wide variety of things, and less than 24 hours ago, the two girls were laughing and living life together. It was agonizing to realize that now she was gone. Hardly more than 3 weeks ago, Wes and Ava had just been living life in District 12 day to day, and trying to survive. Now Wes was gone, Ava had experienced unrivalled horrors, and now she was alone in the world.

"CHELLLLLLL!" she cried out, as if hoping that it would somehow bring her back. It was weird. She was having stronger feelings about a massive, 18-year-old girl from District 2 that she had hardly known for more than 3 weeks, than she was over her brother. Perhaps it had something to do with her current situation, as well as how the two had left the world. Ava had not seen Wes' death (although thinking about it made her dread watching recaps of this year's footage). The two siblings had been close of course, but they had said their goodbyes, never expecting to see each other again. They were unfortunately right.

With Chel though… the two were there for each other through the worst moments of their lives; that had to be what the difference was. The last 2 weeks of Ava's life had been more eventful, dangerous, and horrifying than the rest of her life combined. She had seen terrible things, done horrible things, and yet, the whole time, had had that mysteriously loyal District 2 girl at her side. Chel was a special woman, and Ava longed more than anything to simply speak to her again—about anything. She wanted to hear one of Chel's witty retorts about how she hated mornings or how she loved making people laugh. Oh goodness, she wanted to laugh from one of Chel's remarks so badly right now.

"I…" she said to no one in particular, "I just can't…" she fell to her knees, and then threw her hands in front of her to prevent eating the ground with her face.

The whirring of the hovercraft grew closer, and Ava suddenly snapped out of it. She jumped towards "Bridget", Chel's trusty battleaxe. It had been at Chel's side the entire game, and now Ava was going to refuse to let go of it. If they wanted to kill her… they could have it. Otherwise, she was going to cling to it. Perhaps the girl was right—the weapon did seem to have personality, and suddenly it had some incredible sentimental value.

Moments later, Ava was lifted onto the hovercraft, being taken away from this vicious arena—the mountains and forest were gone, submerged under the murky water of the arena. Any beauty this place had had—any beauty that the last two weeks had held—it was all gone.

Ava slammed her eyes shut as she climbed aboard the hovercraft, covered in dirt and blood. Perhaps that District 8 victor from forty some-odd years ago was right.

"_If the games don't get you, the trauma will."_

She clung to that battleaxe of Chel's though, still sobbing as she remembered how wonderful that massive girl's company had been. Someone tried to take the weapon from Ava, but this proved to be a mistake. For lack of better terms, Ava flipped the heck out on the man (a peacekeeper), screaming obscenities and swinging her fists.

"If this axe isn't in my apartment when I get back to the Capitol," she warned, "then you aren't getting your precious victor."  
It was a threat that was most likely empty, but Aveline was not in an emotionally stable enough mood to care. She wanted that axe, and she wanted some quiet time to herself. However, before she could do much else, she felt something stab her in the back, and she went unconscious.

When she woke up, she was lying in what looked like a hospital bed. She was groggy, but it did not hurt to move anything, and she was dressed in what appeared to be white scrubs. It was quiet, and so she sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking around.

"Hello?" she called out, her voice still rather soft.

"Ah," a male voice responded, "you're finally awake." Ava looked around, rubbing her eyes again, and suddenly, she noticed that Vigo was sitting in front of her.

"Vigo?" she tilted her head, "where am I?"

"You're in the operating studio," he answered, "I was hoping you'd wake up soon, because who knows when Amadeus and Celine will be back to fix you up for tonight." He couldn't help but crack a chuckle.

"Where's Junichi?" she asked. The escort lady had always been a fairly interesting individual in Ava's opinion, and she had seemed fond of her and Wes.

"as soon as she gets back, she'll probably have the stylists in tow," Vigo quipped, "there'll be plenty of time to talk though, I can assure you."

"So what do you think about all of this?" Ava looked Vigo in the eyes, swinging her bare feet from the bed she was sitting up on.

"The games in general, or what went down in year 91?" Vigo tilted his head.

"This year," Ava nodded, "I think that any victor would agree that the games are horrible things."

"Those final days were unbelievable," Vigo shook his head. "they showed a lot of things between you and Chel, considering that the two of you seemed so happy a lot of the time. They also showed a lot of that Iris girl, who seemed to be the leader of the careers this year. Me personally… I just wanted to apologize to you for my harsh judgment of Chel Colorado. In my games, District 2 was the one that I did not want to trust, and for good reason. Perhaps I judged them as a whole too quickly."  
Ava nodded softly. "There are jerks in District 12, you know. We can't just say that there aren't any good people in District 2—or even in the Capitol."

"Don't start sympathizing with then now, Ava," Vigo nudged her.

"Right, Vigo," Ava rolled her eyes, "because I'm sure Junichi, Celine and Amadeus are vehemently insistent on oppressing the districts. Do you really think that everyone in the Capitol is like President Snow? Or that everyone in District 4 is like Iris Durango?"

"Your sarcasm is strong," Vigo quipped, "I like that about you, kid."

Ava was about to smile, but instead suddenly let out a very forlorn sigh. Vigo's words reminded him of exactly what Chel used to say. Chel would purposely say something silly, and Ava would provide a retort dripping with sarcasm, which in turn would make Chel laugh.

"Cheer up, Ava," Vigo reached up to softly squeeze Ava's shoulders. "well, okay maybe that's not the right choice of words. But hey—you and I, we can talk about this kind of thing whenever we want. Chances are you'll be next door to me in the Victor Village unless you'd rather be on the same row as Katniss or Haymitch." He paused and looked up. "We'll talk about that later though. Here they come."  
Ava hopped off the bed and then turned to greet Junichi, who indeed had Celine and Amadeus in tow.

"And here's our newest victor!" Junichi squealed, putting her arms around Ava now that she was cleaned up and able to stand. Ava couldn't help but wrap her arms back around the escort woman.

"Now, as much as I would love to continue this reunion," she said sweetly, as if genuinely concerned, "we cannot leave the others waiting!"

Ava pulled back, nodding in understanding, where she followed the stylists to get dressed for the night. She did have her victor's interview with Caesar after all. Then of course, would be the crowning—Ava would be face to face with President Snow himself: the man behind the malice. Like almost every victor before her, there was nothing she could do to him there and then, and so she would just go through the motions.

"We've got something special in store for you this time, Aveline." Celine smiled. "come with us."  
To cut a long story short, Ava soon found herself being dressed and styled, and perhaps out of exhaustion or from something else, she kept her eyes closed most of the time. The stylists soon caught onto this and admired it.

"An excellent idea," Celine beamed, "keep them closed just a little longer, Aveline."

Ava did just that, only opening her eyes when she was told to.

She gasped upon seeing herself in the mirror. Of all things to put her in, Amadeus and Celine had dressed Ava in nothing short of a dazzling white gown.


	34. Chapter 34: Crowning the Champion

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Ava's victor interview takes place in this chapter, and it thus exposes a lot of her feelings about the 'games. Chel and Iris are certainly not about to be forgotten. Clearly Ava is fond of Chel, but thinking about Iris seems to set something off in the girl that she has trouble trying to wrap her mind around. Aveline is definitely not the girl she was when she left District 12 just over three weeks ago._

**CHAPTER 34: Crowning the Champion**

For a moment Ava thought that they had just copied the District 2 stylists and put her into Chel's gown, and Ava's expression was a mixed collection of emotions that had the young little victor trembling—and not just because she could not walk in high heeled-shoes.

"Aveline?" Naturally, Celine and Amadeus were skeptical about Ava's reaction. Had the dress been offensive? Did it bring back harsh memories? Did Ava despise it?

"It's…" she stammered, "It's beautiful. Is there symbolism here?" She hoped sincerely that if there was, that it had nothing to do with Chel. Even as Ava noticed that the hems, sleeves, and front of the gown were laced with those fake diamonds that had been on her parade costume, the dress still reminded her strongly of Chel.

"Light always shines the brightest in the dark," Amadeus indicated, "the gown itself serves as a contrast to your pre-game dress. You've gone from being a girl to becoming a woman."

"Where did you hear that?" Ava's eyes widened. Chel had told it to Ava, and that girl had apparently heard it from her mentor.  
"It was a girl from District 2, actually," Celine responded, "the victor of the 74th Hunger Games."

Ava paused as the stylists made a few final touches to her face and hair. "How well do you two know District 2?" she asked hopefully.

"We will see it on the victory tour stop," Amadeus smiled at her. Perhaps it was for the best that she did not think too much about them right now, but at the same time, she could not help herself. She wondered what they would think of her. She had been responsible for the death of both District 2 tributes this year. On the other hand, she had respected Chaco, and killing Chel was a mercy kill done solely out of necessity rather than any actual willingness.

Soon Ava was escorted out, where Junichi squealed and hugged Ava, complimenting the dress. Ava smiled, although her face was flustered with emotions considering how strongly she was reminded of Chel right now. She was led backstage again, where Caesar Flickerman would surely be waiting for her. The Capitol timing always seemed to be so on-the-spot. Sure enough, right as Ava got within hearing range, she heard the man's voice.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen," Caesar announced, "let's all give a round of applause to the victor of the 91st Annual Hunger Games—Aveline Lelani Togisala!"

Lelani… they knew her middle name. It was strange hearing it from anyone else's lips but her mother's, but perhaps it shouldn't have surprised her that the Capitol knew everything.

After a brief introduction, Caesar played the highlights of the games, which were condensed into a few minutes. A much less abridged version would surely be available soon.

Naturally, every kill was shown, including the strike against the District 9 boy in the opening minutes. Ava cringed when she saw Iris attack Wes—the girl had not been lying. She had lacerated him considerably harshly, and Ava clenched her fists tightly, no longer feeling any regret for torturing Iris before killing her, even if Iris had been begging for death.

She saw herself hit the floor of the ravine and a cannon going off, although the screen flipped to show Violet from District 5 with an axe through her shoulder. The girl must have died from blood loss rather than instantly. Clearly that had been Chel's work (whether intentional or not), and so the Capitol had twisted it to make a suspenseful showing.

Ava actually produced a small, malevolent smirk on her face as she watched Chel crack Iris' arm with her bare hands in a fit of fury. She had very mixed feelings about Iris, many of them negative, but rewatching the games just made her that much more fond of Chel.

The final moments were bittersweet. On one hand, she managed to get her sweet revenge on Iris, but seeing the girl's exhausted and defeated expression as Ava finished her off brought back those mixed feelings about the young girl that she had slain. Her eyes watered significantly as they played out Chel's death scene in great detail, and by the time it ended a couple minutes later, she was weeping.

The Capitol appeared to like Ava, however. This was a tiny little girl who had beaten all the odds, and, despite a training score of 5, had managed to slay 7 tributes on her own, and win the games.

She recovered a few moments later, and the interview began proper. Unsurprisingly, Caesar asked about the games, and about how she felt about murdering 7 other children. Ava's answer was rather interesting, for she said it with a straight face.

"A little over two weeks ago, I made a promise, from this very stage." She told them, her arms crossed in her lap as she sat upon the victor's throne. "I said that a few weeks from that interview, that I would be the one sitting on the victor's throne. I am a woman of my word, and so I kept that promise."

Caesar grinned ear to ear, also recalling how he had responded to this statement.

"And if I recall," he turned to the audience and cameras, "I reminded everyone that this little girl was in fact the future victor of the 91st Annual Hunger Games! Well… here she is, in the flesh; how about another round of applause!"  
The victor's interview continued, addressing some of the usual questions, which Ava handled calmly and confidently. Inevitably, questions about Chel came up that Ava got a bit emotional with, but she kept her composure, and managed to answer them truthfully. If nothing else, this might have fostered some kind of relationship between District 12 and District 2, and Ava had mixed but mostly positive feelings about visiting that place in 6 months.

Thankfully, it also shifted to more positive subjects, such as Ava's beautiful dress, and even the matching white shoes she was wearing, which sparkled in a rainbow of colors as they reflected the light. They were encrusted with those diamonds that also graced her dress, and even now, Ava was still not sure if these were real or not. On one hand, they appeared to be diamonds and diamonds were rare, but on the other… well, this was the Capitol, and so that sort of affluence was probably commonplace for her. Maybe she would have to ask about it, but that would be later.

Caesar also asked what Ava was excited to do now that she was a victor. Ava's response was so simple and humble that it brought the crowd to give a touching "awww"…

"I just want to go home and put my arms around my mother again," Ava had stated, "she was probably worried sick about me."

Soon enough, Ava's victor interview drew to a close, and Ava knew what was coming next before the words had even escaped Caesar Flickerman's mouth—the victor's crowning. This was the same ritual that 90 other boys and girls before her had been part of, and now it was Ava's turn. Even though she realized that she was the 91st person to be sitting in this throne, 91 was still an extremely small number even compared to the population of District 12. Compared to the population of all of Panem… and that number was practically insignificant.

"Now don't you go anywhere," Caesar grinned, "there is one last touch we must add to that dazzling outfit of yours… and it will be by a very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen… please welcome our very own venerable President Coriolanus Snow!"

The audience erupted into applause as an older man bearing a golden victor's crown appeared on the stage, approaching Ava. Snow certainly looked good for his age—surely another testament to Capitol technology. Soon, Ava froze as her eyes met Snow's, and he leaned down to place the crown on her head and give her his customary words.

"Congratulations, Ms. Togisala," he said softly; politely. Ava smelled the rumored scent of blood and roses on this man's person, verifying all of those rumors and urban legends. "This is a victory you have gone through great trials to earn, and it is well-merited."  
"Thank you." Ava said rather softly. To her surprise, President Snow then turned to the crowds, and gave a small speech of his own.

"16 years ago, a victor by the name of Clove Kazera made an interesting remark." He began, "She stated that the Hunger Games were a rite of passage—the bridge a child crosses to become an adult. I believe that Ms. Aveline has done just that—turning from a girl into a fine young woman. She deserves your appreciation for her accomplishments."  
With these words, the president walked off the stage as the crowds erupted into applause. Ava's face turned red, and was surprised that the speech had not been about anything touchy. Did Snow know what Chel had told her during the girl's final moments alive? Did he know that Ava agreed with those words? Was he trying to cover something up, or was this all just genuine congratulations?

Her mind was taken off of it only when the crowds started chanting her name.

Aveline! Aveline! Aveline! Aveline!

"This moment here…" Caesar took Ava's hand to lift the small girl to her feet again. "This is a moment you never forget. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the moment where a tribute becomes a victor!"


	35. Chapter 35: Lost in Thought

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _One of the themes of this story is that victors, no matter how stable they may appear to be, are dramatically different people from who they were before the games. This entire story was written as an experiment with character concepts, particularly watching a character undergo a powerful and life-changing transformation. Surviving the Hunger Games certainly would do that to anyone, wouldn't you say?_

**CHAPTER 35: Lost in Thought**

Shortly after Ava's interview, she met back up with her team, who were making their way now back to the District 12 quarters.

"I bet you're hungry," Junichi smiled, "I do not think the arena had very much good food."  
"I've never had a good meal in my entire life outside the Capitol," Ava replied bluntly but truthfully, "I'm hungry as hell right now."

"Atta girl," Vigo chuckled, patting her back. "I was about to say you had grown, but then remembered that you're all dressed up."

Ava cracked a chuckle, realizing that he was talking about the heels. "I missed you too, Vigo." She elbowed him playfully as the team all piled into the elevator. They reached the 12th floor soon enough, although the idea that this building was now practically empty on all of the other floors was a haunting fact that did not go over Ava's head.

Despite the cheerful moods from Junichi, Amadeus, and Celine, the meal was eaten in relative silence, with Ava excusing herself early, albeit politely.

"Thank you," she smiled at every member of her team. "Thank you for everything. I just need a moment, if that's okay?"

Ava liked Junichi, because she was so friendly and understanding, which said something coming from a Capitol woman. She nodded in understanding as she and the stylists went back for seconds. Ava walked out to the balcony, nearly tripping from the shoes that she was very clearly not used to walking in, but she left them on and went out to gaze over the Capitol skyline. It hardly looked any different from when she had seen it the first time on the rooftop with Chel. The lights were shimmering all around them, which surely meant that the Capitol was celebrating again—except this time they were celebrating the end of the games and the emerging of a victor, rather than the commencement of the death match.

Ava sighed, slumping down on the railing of the balcony with her head in her arms. She wanted someone to talk to, but no one would understand her plight except perhaps Vigo. Was it fair to want to vent to him when surely he had troubles of his own and secrets he did not feel comfortable sharing? Perhaps not; she wanted to speak to Chel again; to laugh and cry and joke with the massive girl again, but there was no way that that would be possible. She also missed Wes. He might not have been as humorous and playful as Chel was, but he was kind and caring—his sister's safety had always been one of his utmost concerns. Maybe it was her small and scrawny size; or maybe it was just him being a good brother, but Ava certainly missed him, and her fondness of Chel did not change that at all.

A few minutes passed, and Vigo walked out onto the balcony, causing Ava to turn to see who it was before turning back and gazing out over the balcony again.

"I remember this balcony," he pointed out, "I was on it myself, 7 years ago."

"Is being a victor this depressing?" Ava sighed, "All my friends are gone…"

Vigo sighed, putting his hand on Ava's back to run his fingers over it in a reassuring manner. "I wish I could say no, and that it's as glitzy and glamorous as the Capitol makes it out to be…" he shook his head, "but otherwise, yes. Yes it is."

Ava sighed, standing up to look at Vigo again. "you're not helping." She glared at him, although she knew it was not his fault.

"There are few who can," Vigo indicated, pulling Ava in for a gentle embrace. Perhaps Junichi had rubbed off on him, but he did not want his new replacement mentor to fall into a horrible state of depression before anything had even happened. "There are less than 91 people in all of Panem who are alive and have even an idea of what you've been through in the last two weeks, Aveline. Even if you and I have both become killers and have had to survive through hell and worse, I do not fully understand the things you experienced, just as you do not fully understand what I have been through. You, me, the Capitol, and all of Panem can watch that footage as much as they damn well please, but even if you spent 14 days watching all 14 days of it… it still does not compare to living it. That footage—to know that of the 24 children they show, you are the only one that is still alive… it does things to you."

Ava sighed, as Vigo's words reminded her of something.

"How many tributes did you kill, Vigo?" she asked, "I'm curious, and I admit that my memory of your games kind of disappeared after, well… my games."

"I only killed 4, one of which was in the bloodbath." Vigo answered, "the number of tributes a victor kills is irrelevant though. You are trying to survive, and are willing to do anything necessary. There is nothing morally superior about killing fewer tributes, and nothing socially superior about killing more. It is a twisted and horrible thing either way."  
"7 boys and girls lost their lives because of me." Ava sighed, "I wiped out most of the career pack myself. I'm responsible for killing both tributes from District 2, even if I allied with one of them."  
"You did what you had to," Vigo reminded her, holding her in his arms. The two were 8 years apart in age, although the bond they shared almost seemed like father and daughter at this point, which to Ava was very significant, considering that her father had been dead many years.

"And what about District 4?" Ava looked up, "I killed Cress in the bloodbath, and Iris… ugh… Iris…"

"There are tributes like that every year, Ava." Vigo reassured her.

"I broke her, Vigo." Ava looked up at him again, "I tortured her before she finally submitted. I thought I would find satisfaction in killing the girl who so brutally murdered Wesley. Then I saw her face… she was exhausted; beaten, broken… she had no fighting spirit left in her. Underneath that, she was just another young girl forced into this mess just like I was. There was no glory in killing her."  
She was a demented little shit, that's for sure," Vigo shook his head. Wes' death had not exactly gone over well with him either, especially back when he had still not trusted Chel.

"No," Ava shook her head. "she deserved better. I do not like the girl, but I do pity her. Vigo… I saw everything in that girl's eyes. I saw her fear. I saw her distress. I saw her desperation. I saw her finally come to realize that she was going to die. I saw tears in her eyes. I saw Iris Durango cry."

"Katniss Everdeen once told me something similar on the way to the Capitol," Vigo pointed out, "she simply said 'remember who the real enemy is'."  
That reminded Ava of one other thing. "Chel told me something like that, actually."  
"Really now," Vigo's eyes widened, "what did she say?"  
"She said the spirit of liberation in District 2 is not dead," Ava whispered, almost afraid that someone would hear her. Vigo smiled.

"Well… Chel was a better person than I thought then, and that says something, because my respect for her grew considerably over the course of the games. She was a good woman."  
"Chel was one of the most amazing people I ever met." Ava admitted, "I miss her so much." She whimpered again, the emotions of longing for her old friend returning to her in full force. "I've never had a friend like Chel in my life. I wish Wes could have gotten to know her. He would have liked her, I think. He definitely needed to learn to laugh a bit—we both did."

"There's not a whole lot to laugh about here in Panem," Vigo reminded her, "although if there's a spirit of rebellion present in even some small form in District 2, that's something to think about. There's no point in staying up all night out here though. Perhaps you should get some rest. Not even 24 hours ago you were riding on the back of a giant bird. That's going to become the stuff of legend, kid."

"I'm fine," Ava shook her head. "I just need some time."

"I'm just a couple doors over if you need me then, kid." He patted her back before leaving her alone on the balcony. Ava stared out into the distance for a while, appreciating the silence, although it was truly a bittersweet moment. She never felt so alone in her life, and in the silence, she longed for her brother Wes, and for her best friend Chel.

She was not sure what had happened, but she found herself waking up in her bed, still fully dressed in her beautiful interview gown. To top it off, she found herself being woken up by Junichi.

"Rise and shine, my lovely!" she beamed, "today's the day—you get to go home! You get to see District 12 again!"  
As bubbly as Junichi was, Ava could tell her words were sincere. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and for a moment, the realization of the escort's words finally dawned upon her.

The nightmare was over. Aveline was finally going home.


	36. Chapter 36: A Mother's Love

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _After I finished writing this story, I went back and reviewed bits of it and felt that something was missing, and thus, this chapter was born. Originally, Chapter 37 was Chapter 36 (and so on), and this Chapter 36 simply did not exist. I wrote this on the spot just now and felt that it was an important (albeit slightly brutal) addition to the story because of the character development therein. You might be able to tell where some of this is going, but I think one of the biggest perks that this chapter possesses (besides also ironically being the longest one in the series, despite me cranking it out in a couple hours) is that it shows exactly what kind of person Junichi Thatch is, and thus provides us with some very interesting insight on her character._  
_Happy reading._

**CHAPTER 36: A Mother's Love**

As Ava got her things together, she could hear heavy footsteps approaching her room, but did not think much about it. She glanced at her dresser, where Chel's battleaxe was resting, and suddenly saw a black-skinned hand take hold of it. She looked up, and to her utter astonishment, there was Chel Colorado, exactly as Ava remembered her. She was clothed in a dazzling white dress that looked like a more elaborate version of the one she had worn on her interview night a few weeks ago.

"I'm glad you kept Bridget safe for me," the larger girl smiled.

"Chel!?" Ava gawked, "pinch me. I'm dreaming, aren't I? Did any of this happen?"  
"Did any of what happen?" Chel chortled, picking up her axe and examining it.

"The games!" Ava exclaimed, "the arena… you and me… Wes… Iris… Chaco!"

"Of course the games happened," Chel nodded, "you killed Cress in the opening minutes and Iris was furious. We broke from the career pack and made a break for it. Then there was a lot of fighting and me carrying you while you carried my battleaxe, and all sorts of other fun things."  
If this Chel was an illusion, she was doing a damn good job at seeming real. Ava pinched herself a few times and even punched herself in the face to no effect. She was standing on her two feet and this was real in front of her.

"Why are you hurting yourself?" Chel tilted her head, "I know my jokes are bad, but I didn't think they were so bad that you'd resort to self-harm."

Ava groaned. "Chel, that was worse than bad, and you know it." She laughed.

"I regret nothing," Chel laughed again, "that's a pretty dress though."

"Well gosh, so is yours!" Ava exclaimed, "so tell me everything! You're supposed to be dead! How did you get in here? This doesn't make sense and so I thought I was dreaming!"  
"Well… Zurok the Gamemaker brought me back—said she liked me." Chel explained, "the Capitol can create mutts out of thin air, and they proved they could even bring a humanoid to life with that black-haired monster we saw, yeah? Well… apparently they did the same to me."  
It certainly made Ava think of the cruelty of the Capitol if they really did have the power to bring the children they tortured and killed annually back to life and did not ever do so.

"There's gotta be a catch though," Ava insisted, "they're not allowing two victors, are they?"

"They're treating this like you won, because technically, you did," Chel went on, "They're taking you to District 12, and then me to District 2. When the victory tour starts, they'll pick me up and then come to pick you up. We're still going to visit District 2 in order, since I'm not a victor; I'm just a survivor."  
"You'll be an awesome victory tour partner!" Ava sighed happily, throwing her arms around her beloved friend. "Chel, I can't believe you're actually here!"  
Chel rubbed Ava's back reassuringly, "and even in heels, you are still super-tiny, kiddo." She quipped, "I'm going to pick you up and squeeze you."

Before Ava could react, her feet left the ground and Chel bear-hugged her again, lifting her several inches off the ground. The tiny girl squealed, but didn't struggle. She did not want her gown hiking up.

Chel set Ava down a moment later and ruffled her hair. "you shouldn't sleep in that gown though, kid," she warned, helping straighten the garment for Ava, "you'll get it all wrinkly or maybe ruin it. That would be quite the tragedy, wouldn't you say?"

"I'll say," Ava nodded, still just overjoyed that Chel was there with her. "still… why do you gotta make fun of my size, Chel?"  
"Because you're the size of a 10-year-old," Chel laughed, "…and cute as a 6-year-old…"

"Chel, I'm 15." Ava protested. Not to say that Ava was sensitive about her small size, but it was slightly touchy when someone called her young and cute when, after the Hunger Games, she had matured significantly, to the point where even President Snow himself had said she had gone from being a girl to being a woman. Really, that was just another of the many things the 'games did to someone. They would destroy any childhood that boy or girl had left in them, and start them prematurely on the road of adulthood, where dealing with this issue became a rising concern. It was one of the reasons so many victors did not have children—Vigo was single and childless after all. Would Ava be the same way?

"I don't care," Chel snapped Ava back to reality, "you're cute and so I'm going to remind you of that."

"Fine," Ava grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting, before getting another curious question.

"So what was death like?" she said softly, "I am pretty sure I had killed you, after all…"

"it was like sleeping," Chel shrugged, running her large hands down the handle of her trusty battleaxe, "I woke up in an operating room a while later, and they told me I was back. Long story short, here I am with you again."  
"It still feels like a dream," Ava shook her head. "even getting reaped at all… It's hard to realize that my brother is still gone—unless they saved him too?" Ava half expected Wes to walk in through that door, but no one appeared, except for Chel who was still standing in front of Ava.

"Just me,"Chel shrugged. "They were going to revive Iris as well; but I strangled a man and threatened to do the same to the rest of them if they dared try it—so they didn't."  
"Bull!" Ava laughed, knowing that Chel was making that up.

"Fine, you're right. I didn't see or hear anything about Iris, luckily. Otherwise I'd owe her a knife to the gut for what she did to me. Anyways, let's go out to the balcony again, what do you say?"  
"Aren't we about to get ready to go home though?" Ava mused, swearing that she had heard Junichi come in earlier.

"We've got a while," Chel reassured her, taking her battleaxe and heading out of Ava's room towards the common room and then the balcony. "It's still dark out, mind you."  
Sure enough, as Ava stepped outside, the sky was still black and glittering with the various city lights of Panem's magnificent Capitol. Chel's gown shimmered in the moonlight, and so did Ava's.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Chel commented, gazing over the balcony, "how two simple weeks of someone's life can change them so powerfully… you're definitely not the kid you were when I met you in that elevator, Ava. You've grown so much."

"Doesn't that happen to everyone?" Ava sighed, "I don't think innocence could last more than 1 minute and 38 seconds in the arena."  
"True enough," Chel chuckled, as Ava walked towards her. playfully, Chel stuck her foot out to see if Ava would notice, but the smaller girl failed to notice, and thus planted on her face instead. She saw a few stars, but had managed to prevent breaking her nose against the solid floor of the platform.

"Chel, that was NOT even funny, you ass." Ava was half-chuckling, knowing that Chel's sense of humor was weird like that. Without even looking up, she extended her hand.  
"Chel, help me up," she muttered, figuring her friend would happily pull her back up, but there was no response. "Chel?" Ava muttered again, twisting her head again to try and see Chel's feet. However, there was nothing there, where Chel had just been. Grunting and pushing herself into a kneeling position on the floor with her hands, Ava looked around. She was still on the balcony under the night sky and everything but Chel was not there.

"Chel!?" Ava called out, slightly more frantic. Scrambling to her feet, she raced back to her bedroom in hopes of finding evidence of Chel's presence. Instead, she found the opposite. Chel's trusty battleaxe was still leaning against the dresser right where Ava had left it before. The horrifying reality of what had just happened finally sunk in—it had all just been a dream. The nightmare had not ended until just now.

Ava threw herself onto her bed in utter, hopeless despair as she cried herself to sleep.

Her face was still red when Junichi woke her up for real, except the woman's approach was unarguably one of the most unusual things that Ava had ever experienced. The Capitol woman sat at the side of Ava's bed, gently running her hand through Ava's hair the way a mother would. It reminded Ava that the woman had said she had lost a child before, and she wondered if this explained Junichi's attachment to her or not, but did not have the ability to ask.

"Bad dream?" she asked Ava once the smaller girl woke up.

Ava simply nodded, whimpering again.

"I wish there was more that I could do, dear," she insisted, "but you probably know how tied my hands are. I understand that telling a distressed victor to cheer up or get over it is probably the most inconsiderate thing I could say to them… but I do hope you can be happy again."  
Ava slowly sat up, slowly sliding out of bed until she was sitting next to the blue-haired woman in the sharp white and purple suit.

"You remind me of Chel," Ava glanced up into the escort's red eyes.

"How so?" Junichi glanced over at Chel's battleaxe in the corner, "she probably related to you better than I ever could. I will never know the Hunger Games personally… I will never see my friends and family go to their deaths.

"Because you break the mold," Ava explained, "District 2 is known for their vicious and loyal tributes. They are ruthless and merciless, in these games for glory, which is why they volunteer." Ava might have been from District 12, but she knew this truth about District 2 as well as anyone.

"Chel volunteered though," Junichi reminded Ava, running her dexterous fingers up and down the girl's bare back (for the gown had a very low back). Ava shuddered briefly.

"But she was like you—friendly, humble, caring… either you're putting on a damn good act for me, Junichi, or I'd dare say that you care quite a lot about me, and even Vigo. You're not the usual airhead that comes through and gleefully reminds us that we're sending two of our children to their deaths. I can see it in you—your hands are truly tied."

Junichi was silent for a moment as if pondering something. This was very dangerous territory for them to venture into, and if word got out about Junichi's behavior, she was certain that the Capitol elite would have no trouble killing or torturing her.

"You have read me correctly," she replied softly, looking down at her lap and away from Ava. "Do not speak much of this, I beseech you… but know this, Aveline. I am on your side."  
It was in this moment that all of the differences in the world that the society of Panem imposed upon these two women meant nothing. Brief as it may have been, these were two individuals who, despite being from viciously contrasting backgrounds, were seeing eye-to-eye as equals. Junichi Thatch was truly a rare specimen to ever come from the Capitol, and it reminded Ava of a simple truth that Chel Colorado had taught her about the viciously loyalist District 2, only a couple weeks prior.

Not all of them are like that.

"Let's get up and get you ready then," Junichi patted Ava's back, hoping to coax the younger girl to her feet. "Get some breakfast and get ready to leave afterwards, Ava… you're going home!" She gave Ava a genuine smile before stepping out to give Ava a moment to herself. The smaller girl smiled, shedding a tear or two from emotional takeover. Chel might be dead, but there were still good people in this brutal and horrible world they lived in. they came from the most unexpected places sometimes, such as District 2, or even the Capitol itself sometimes. Ava was very glad that she had gotten to know Junichi better. That woman was true rarity in Panem.

Slowly steadying herself and straightening the white gown that she still had on, Ava decided to greet the morning and grab some breakfast.


	37. Chapter 37: A Victor's Trauma

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _As terrible as it sounds, the bulk of this large chapter goes and shows just how messed up Aveline's mind has become when it comes to certain subjects. She hasn't gotten over Iris at all, and that name invokes a mixture of radical emotions in the kid that she can't quite grasp, which in turn frustrates her, and it spirals out of control from there. However, instead of summarizing it here, I'll just show it in the chapter. The good news though, is that she does finally arrive home, so it's not all bad though.  
Happy reading!  
_

**CHAPTER 37: A Victor's Trauma**

Ava ate a quick breakfast, and did not even bother changing out of her beautiful interview gown. She was excited to get home, and while she was leaving behind horrors that would never truly fade away, including the loss of her brother and her best friend, she wanted to see her mother again, who had surely been worried sick on more than one occasion while her daughter was in the Hunger Games. On the other hand, there was nothing to replace Wes' loss, for Ava had never even seen the body—she could not have retrieved his tribute token.

Her own tribute token, however, had been sitting on the dresser of her room, right next to where a large battleaxe was—Chel's battleaxe, it was. Adding the little purple moon-patterned bracelet to her right wrist (for she was left-handed), she was otherwise ready to leave, dressed exactly how she was.

To cut a long story short, no one in the Capitol complained about a little victor wearing Capitol fashion on her way back to her home, and so there was no incident all the way to the train (and her other Hunger Games mementos were taken with her of course, including 'Bridget' the battleaxe).

For a while it was quiet, however, with the only sound being Vigo occasionally lifting a flask to his mouth, but otherwise, he was sketching. Ava was swinging her feet from her seat (for she was small enough that she could not touch the floor), but there was mostly silence between the 91st and 84th victors of the Hunger Games.

"Did you want to talk about anything?" Vigo offered, pulling a pair of dice out of his pocket and tossing them from palm to palm idly.

"I'll join you in that dice game again," the smaller girl nodded, "and I guess you can ask me anything you were wondering about my games, since you told me and Wes your story on the way here."  
"I'm just curious about how you feel now," Vigo threw the dice, rolling a 2 and a 3 before handing them over to Ava, who in turn tossed them (and rolled a 6 and a 1).

"1-0 my favor," Ava nodded as she handed the dice back to Vigo. "What do you mean? Like as a victor?"  
Vigo nodded as he threw and then exchanged the dice with Ava, "aye. You and your mother are moving up to the victor village now. I suppose there's that to be excited about."

"I know," she nodded, "I just wish Wes was here to come with me. Obviously that can't happen, but that doesn't stop me from missing him. Fucking Iris. Vigo, I was this close to her. I was THIS CLOSE to the girl who murdered my brother."  
Vigo tilted his head. "What are you talking about? You killed her if I recall."

"The elevator," Ava reminded him, "when we first met Chel—it was you, me, Wes, Chel, and Iris—that girl who asked us to push the 4 button. That was her. If I had known that she would be the one to so brutally kill my brother…" she slammed her fist on the table rather loudly, gritting her teeth. No, even if she had killed Iris in a fairly merciful manner, remembering the old wound that Iris had caused in Ava's life by taking Wes from her was something that always caused the tiny girl so seethe with anger. More than anything, thinking about Iris set Ava's emotions into a turmoil of confusion that she could not get a grip on no matter how hard she tried. On one hand, she had seen the young girl at her weakest and most vulnerable—a little 14-year-old who had been molded into a ruthless killer by the Capitol. However, on the other hand she had seen what that wicked little thing was capable of doing, and her brother had been one of Iris' worst victims.

"Calm down, Ava," Vigo warned, "I'm on your side."

"I know," Ava seethed, taking a deep breath, and the game continued, although clearly based on the things Ava continued muttering, she was still upset about it. Vigo handled it for a while, but since it brought back memories of his own, it eventually forced him to act.

"Ava… stop. Dwelling on that little shit isn't going to do anything here. I'm on your side, so if you want to vent… just vent. Don't take your anger out on me though."  
"I know, I know…" Ava shuddered, trying to collect herself. "You know what… no, I don't. Hold me back, Vigo." She fumed, "I'm about to jump across this table and start breaking things."

Vigo did not even ask, but seized Ava's left arm, and catching her right when it balled into a fist and came at him. He knew the trauma Ava was facing, and while the girl had coped with it well for a while, he knew that eventually she needed to blow up like this.

"IRIS!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs before wrenching herself out of Vigo's grip (by surprise) and thankfully throwing herself at the floor instead of at the table. Figuring that Ava was about to explode in another fit of rage, Vigo jumped on top of the smaller girl and held her down as she tried shoving and throwing him off of her.

"GET OFF ME!" she roared. "VIGO I'M GOING TO KILL HER!"

Vigo did not want to create a scene, and so grabbed a cushion, shoved it underneath Ava's head, and then shoved the girl's face into it as she let out another belting scream. Even she didn't really know what had overcome her, but she suddenly really missed Wes, and was saddened and angered by his loss. Remembering Chel's death made her sad, but remembering Wes' death for some reason, just seemed to make her furious.

However, when Vigo forced her head, something else snapped, and she began writhing frantically, screaming not from anger, but from panick. She screamed into the pillow, hoping for Vigo to let her up, which thankfully he did.

"Vigo…" she caught her breath, already red-eyed and red-faced. "Vigo, please…"  
"What the hell was that about, kid? Are you trying to kill yourself?"  
"Vigo, listen to me, please."  
With an exasperated sigh, Vigo got up, but still held onto Ava's left arm. She might have a decent right hook, but he knew the girl was left-handed and that she could do some wicked attacks with that arm.

"I did basically the same thing to Iris before I killed her." the girl explained, "when you did it to me… it made me feel like it was her. I am not going to lie. Even thinking about Iris Durango strikes me the wrong way, and it makes my emotions go a bit haywire. Please just… just don't."

"Look, kid…" he gently pulled Ava closer to him in the hopes of comforting the distressed young lady, "there's something I gotta tell you now about winning the Hunger Games that I couldn't tell you or Wes before. It's a pretty nasty truth."  
"Let's hear it." Ava sighed, straightening out the pretty white gown that she was still wearing. Ava liked the pretty clothes she had been dressed in, but back home she had never cared what she wore, and so this was just another example of that showing.

"There isn't a single victor whose mind isn't messed up." Vigo told her bluntly, "In one way or another, anyways. We all suffer from some version of post-traumatic stress. you're not the same little girl you went into the arena as, and you never will be."  
"Who would want to volunteer then" Ava shook her head, "I might not have wanted to even win if I knew what would happen to me."

"But on the other hand, you are safe…" Vigo reassured her, "and you won't ever have to worry about the Hunger Games ever again. You can live with your mother in peace."

She sighed, "I still miss Wes."  
Vigo nodded, rubbing the small girl's back, "I do too. Don't explode thinking about Iris again though. You're going to have to see her face and talk about her on your tour in 6 months."

"I'm gonna say to hell with that bitch," Ava insisted, "I don't care what it costs me."

"Is it the name?" Vigo tilted his head, "the face?"

"Anything about her," Ava shook her head, "Iris Durango… that girl's face… District 4… even the flowers themselves… it does something to me. It confuses me, and then it angers me. It's… shit, Vigo; do you really think I want to explode like that? Do you really think I want to throw myself at something or someone in a blind fury? Of course not!"

Vigo shook his head and didn't try to argue with her. "Let's finish this conversation from our seats, rather than the floor. Junichi would have a cow if she saw us right now."

Ava sighed, "fine… sorry. Just… losing my brother hurt more than I thought. I guess Chel was able to take my mind off of it a bit more, but now she's gone too. Now that I've got nothing else to distract me… well, it makes me sad, and also makes me mad. No, Vigo. It makes me FURIOUS!"

She slammed her fist on the table again as they sat back down.

"Perhaps if you want to smash things to take out your anger, I could teach you a useful skill when we get back home." He quipped, putting his hand on Ava's back again to try and calm the smaller girl down. "I'm no Chel, kid, but I'm one of the 91 people who understands what being in a Hunger Games arena can do to a kid. I'll be there if you ever need or want to vent. Hell… I'll fight you even, if you want."  
"You're way bigger than me though," Ava instantly protested. She was used to everyone being taller than her, because most people were.

"No offense Ava," he quipped, "but that's an easy feat. You're tiny."

"Shut up!" she punched him lightly, "you're supposed to be on my side…"

"I'm on your right, as you might have noticed," Vigo quipped with a smirk, "and thank goodness too. You have a wicked left arm."

"That's it. It is on!" she jumped him again, except this time they were playfully wrestling instead of Ava actually attacking viciously. Vigo was not a large man by any means, although he found that tiny little Ava had a lot of fighting spirit in her, and it took a while before the more experienced victor pinned the small girl down, breathing heavily.

"District 12 needs more fighters like you," he quipped, "now let's see if we can straighten up before Junichi finds us again."  
"Vigo, you're a terrible influence." Vigo froze, knowing exactly who this womanly voice sounded to. Sure enough, glancing behind him, and he saw Junichi standing in the doorway, her arms crossed, but a strangely satisfied smile on her face.

"And you're a terrible woman," he retorted, "District 12 is full of terrible people."

Junichi shook her head. "Ava… you're going to ruin that dress if you keep taking Vigo's advice. That would be a right tragedy, and you know it."

"Are you saying you'll intervene if we continue?" Ava challenged.

"Don't make me start using that training center in the 6 months before the tour, young lady." Junichi warned. "because I will."

"You know what?" Vigo spoke up, standing up and pulling Ava to her feet as well. "you're on. I'll bet you on that one. I'm a man of my word too."  
For a moment, Junichi paused.

"Alright then," she said to both Vigo and Ava's surprise as she extended her hand to shake Vigo's and then Ava's. "you have yourself a deal."

Soon enough, the train was finally pulling into District 12 after its long journey (and Ava was back in normal clothes). This was where they said goodbye for a while, as Junichi, Amadeus, and Celine bade farewell to Vigo and Ava for another 6 months, and the two victors returned to their normal lives.

They bade farewell at the train, and after stepping off on the platform, they were greeted with cheering citizens, proud that their district had just gone and produced its 5th victor. However, none of them really looked significant to Ava except one.

"MOMMA!" she cried out, running and throwing all 83 pounds (for she had lost a bit of weight in the arena, and had not yet gained it back) of her unimpressive frame at her mother, wrapping herself in Naisha's arms. There would be plenty of time to talk about the horrors and trials of the arena, but for now, Ava wanted nothing more than the affection that only a mother could give.


	38. Chapter 38: The Victors' Village

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _With all of this District 12 stuff, one might wonder what has happened to Katniss Everdeen. Rest assured, she is still alive and well (as well as a victor can be anyways); just that social skills have never been her strong point, and now that she does not have to mentor tributes year after year, she sees very little reason to interact with people who are not fellow victors, since no one else can relate to her nightmares and horrors either. _  
_In fine, she makes a minor appearance in this chapter, as Ava adjusts to life in the Victor Village._

**CHAPTER 38: The Victors' Village**

Ava had once suspected that winning the Hunger Games would have solved everything. She never dreamed of volunteering, but she had always felt that she might have stood a chance at winning depending on the arena and the alliances she made. It would solve all of their problems; she had assumed, figuring that then she, her mother, and her brother, would be free of poverty's grasp and would be able to live in peace, and that that would be that.

It was very different, however, and not just because Wes had died in those very same Hunger Games. Aveline felt distant and alone, and she slept with her hand around a knife under her pillow. Even her mother was careful to wake her up, because if Ava was having a nightmare, she would pull that knife out, sitting bolt upright as she woke up in a cold sweat. No, back when she was on her way to the arena, Ava had overlooked the fact that being a victor was a very traumatic experience, even for tributes that might not have had friends or relatives who had died.

Ava was back in the bloodbath, except that the glass tube that had raised her up was still surrounding her, preventing her from racing to the cornucopia. She saw Wes there, attempting to arm and defend himself, only for Zaffre to disarm him and then Iris to finish the job. It was different from the footage she had seen, but all she could do was scream and bang against the tubing that was preventing her from saving her brother.

Needless to say, when she was woken up by a knock on her bedroom door, her guest heard a scream and the thud of a knife hitting the wood. There was a reason Ava asked her mother to knock before entering her room, and this was one of the reasons.

There was another soft knock on the door, and Ava groaned, rubbing her eyes. It had only been a dream, but like all of the others involving the Hunger Games, it had felt so real.

"Gimmie a moment," she groaned, throwing some clothes on before heading to the door. She stopped briefly to gaze longingly at the battleaxe that now rested on her dresser—the only relic she had of Chel Colorado's, other than the necklace she had given her, which Ava decided to put on.

A moment later, she crossed the room, wrenching her knife out of the door (which was riddled with holes from where Ava's knives had landed) before opening it. Her guest was in fact a woman, but it was not her mother. Ava recognized it instead as Vigo's mentor. For a split second, she flinched, raising her knife, but then realized that this woman's eyes were normal and so was her skin. It was not that creature from the games.

"Katniss," Ava tilted her head curiously, "what brings you here?" not to say that they did not really interact a whole lot… but they did not really interact a whole lot unless they were hunting together, or unless they were all having drinks at Haymitch's mansion, which usually involved Ava or Vigo dragging Katniss home that night.

"I just wanted to talk," she shrugged, "your victory tour is today."  
"Where's Vigo?" she asked, suspecting that it would be him to break this news to her. It also surprised her that 6 months had already flown by.

"I think he is also preparing; he's going with you, after all. He was your mentor."

"So this is what it's like then, hmm?" Ava looked up at Katniss before inviting her to sit down and get comfortable, "being a victor, I mean."

"It's definitely not what the Capitol portrays it as," Katniss shook her head, pulling out a small flask from her hip and taking a brief shot, "life as a victor is full of trauma; sadness; regret. I couldn't save my sister. I did not take action when I should have. By the time it hit me what I had done, it was far too late for me to take her place."  
"So why did you volunteer during the Quell then?" Ava looked curious. She had heard rumors, but had never actually had the gall to ask Katniss about her Hunger Games until now. Prior to being a victor herself, she didn't ever feel it would have been appropriate. Ava herself was similar, feeling that only fellow victors had the right to ask her about her games.

"I had nothing else to lose," Katniss explained, "I was angry, and I was guilty. The fact that the boy who was reaped alongside my sister the year before was someone who had always admired me, didn't help."

"I had always wondered about that," Ava looked meekly into Katniss' eyes.

"It was awkward at first," Katniss leaned forward, placing her hand on her forehead, "he promised me that he would protect her to his dying breath—he kept that promise, and that's probably the main reason my sister wasn't killed in the bloodbath. Peeta Mellark—you don't forget the names of people who go all out of their way to help you like that. You don't forget someone who was your last hope."

"Chel Colorado…" Ava muttered under her breath, before nodding in agreement. "Those are really the kind of people who stay with you forever, aren't they?"

Katniss simply nodded. "Even if they're both gone, I owe them more than I can even understand." She shook her head. "I'm not willing to tell that story yet, Ava. I'm sorry."

Ava shook her head. "Shit," she shrugged, "telling stories about my own Hunger Games are hard enough… I'm not about to expect you to tell me how it was watching your sister die…" She thought of Wes, and that it was hard enough watching the footage of Iris cutting him down. She tried not to think about it, because she found herself vehemently cursing Iris and punching the walls every time she did. Anything about Iris still had a tendency to trigger a confusion of emotions that would only frustrate Aveline further.

"Thanks," Katniss sighed. "I think at this point I'd ask if you wanted to jump the fence with me, but I think your team is coming to prep you up for your tour. Have fun."  
"May the odds be ever in my favor?" she chuckled, trying to make positive out of the otherwise grim mood that had set in.

"May the odds make it true that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way, your body goes into shock so that you don't feel anything when you die." Katniss responded with a straight face. It was black humor, but almost every victor remembered that infamous quote. It was something of a meme among the victors in particular, usually getting them to crack a grim smirk or something.

"Damn, that's dark," Ava shook her head, but it had its effect, bringing a dark smile to the girl's face. "I guess I'll see you in a couple weeks then. Don't hunt all the game without me."  
"I wouldn't dream of it," Katniss nodded before disappearing the same way she came in.

Sure enough, a few moments later, there was another knock at the door, which Ava's mother went and got, since she was up a bit later. Ava and her mother Naisha were still very close, even if Ava's sleep schedule had changed significantly ever since becoming a victor.

Naisha was greeted with Ava's prep team, who were all excited to meet their new victor again for the first time in 6 months. Behind them was Vigo, and Katniss had not been swift enough to leave the house, and so she got caught up in the whole meet and greet thing that happened as well.

Ava actually went and hugged Junichi again, and saw the nearly matching exotic stylist pair behind her simply itching to get to work on what would be 13 days of styling and dressing their favorite little tribute, who was now a victor.

"You wanna tag along, Kitkat?" Vigo teased his old mentor with a nickname as she tried to escape the crowd. Katniss Everdeen had never been the most socially talented individual in District 12, and Vigo found this weakness to be mildly amusing. "Tributes can have two mentors, you know…"

"I'll pass; thanks," she shook her head, and they let her through the door where she disappeared.

"Well then…" Junichi took a deep breath, "Ava, let's get you styled up for this trip, and we can catch up with each other afterwards!"  
"Alright," Ava shrugged, following the stylists into one of the larger washrooms, which apparently had been briefly converted into a smaller studio where the stylists would make Ava over. It was much simpler than her first time, since she did not need to be operated on at all. Even her body hair that had been removed in the Capitol had never grown back, so really it was just a matter of showering Ava before dressing her.

Her outfit was simple, consisting of a rather basic District 12 getup consisting of boots, pants, and a sturdy jacket over an undershirt. It was cleaner than anything the average District 12 citizen would wear, but other than that, she blended right in. Her hair was neatened, and makeup application was minimal, keeping a very humble look to her. They had found the necklace to be a nice touch, and instead of asking her about it, they just let her keep it.

"It looks lovely," Ava smiled, approving the getup, "I can't wait to see what you two have in store for me for the rest of the trip."  
"We hope you like it as well," Amadeus and Celine beamed. "This is just a taste. We can't have you extravagantly blowing away your home district till we're on our way home. That's the last stop on the tour after all."  
Ava nodded understandingly, and gave both of her stylists a hug before meeting Junichi and Vigo out in the main room, where the former was surprisingly conversing with Ava's mother. It was weird, seeing a woman from District 12 and a Capitol citizen speaking to each other almost like equals, but that was one of the many things that Ava liked about Junichi—she was very down-to-earth and relatable to the "commoners", despite her fancy (and slightly garish) clothes, her red eyes, and her spiky blue hair.

Junichi stood up upon seeing Ava and the stylists, however.

"Ah, there you are. Ava you look lovely!" she beamed. Turning briefly to Naisha, she smiled again. "I do hate to cut this short, Mrs. Togisala, but we must be off. Do not worry—your daughter is in good hands… she will return in less than a couple of weeks!"  
Surprisingly, Naisha smiled. "I never thought I'd say this… but I actually feel reassured by that. You seem to treat her well."  
"Well," Junichi kept her slightly higher-pitched voice, but the friendly undertones remained fully intact, "I do try to treat her as a person too. We in the Capitol have children of our own, after all…"  
Naisha did not respond, for her mind wandered to Wes, who was dead because of the Capitol's antics. She knew it was not Junichi's fault, but she did not want to start a heated argument with such a kind woman who was simply doing her job (a job which was not responsible for any deaths. No tribute had ever died being escorted to the Capitol).

"Take care, Ava," Naisha gave her daughter one last hug before they waved their final goodbyes. This time was not nearly as heartbreaking as the one 6 months ago—this time, Ava knew with a 100% surety that she would be coming back alive and in one piece.


	39. Chapter 39: The Tour Begins

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _And so begins the tour. In the meantime, we get to deal with a train ride, and we see more of the relationship the District 12 team holds with each other, and the bond that had formed between escort, mentor, and victor._  
_We also learn in this installment that Junichi Thatch is secretly a total badass. Happy reading!_

**CHAPTER 39: The Tour Begins**

The train ride mostly consisted of Vigo and Ava throwing dice in one of the cars, although after a while, Vigo thought of something that also brightened Ava's spirits.

"You know," he quipped, "6 months ago I made a bet with Junichi about using he training center. Do you want to see if she kept her word with me?"  
Ava's face lit up. "Do you really think she's going to fight you in those frilly skirts and heels? She'd mess up her hair, and that'd be a criminal offense in the magnificent Capitol!"  
Vigo laughed, ruffling Ava's hair. The stylists had left it down (but it did smell very pretty), enjoying Ava's natural look for the opening leg of the tour. "I like your sarcasm, kid. Let's pay her a visit."

Like last time though, Junichi almost seemed to possess the superhuman ability to appear whenever someone mentioned her name, and sure enough, the two victors turned around, and there was the little Capitol lady with her spiky blue hair contrasted by a frilly pink outfit and some matching high heels, glaring at them with an almost unnervingly calm expression on her face.

"Jun," Vigo pointed his finger at her, "the time has come."

"You know, Vigo," the escort quipped, "I almost feel terrible for having to take your betting money so much. I'll even give you this one chance to call off the bet."  
Vigo snorted, "and be a candyass? I think not," he shook his head. "Are you suggesting you, me, right here, right now? You really actually used the training center?"

"I am a woman of my word," Junichi nodded stoically, "and let it not be said that there is not benevolence to come from the Capitol. I will therefore give you one last chance to reconsider."  
"forget it," Vigo laughed, "you just want to get away with not having to admit you didn't train at all."

Junichi's expression turned rather stern. "Follow me." she warned.

Vigo did so without question, and Ava was right behind them, curious to know what this was all about. She had a few suspicions, but many of them did not make sense.

Aveline followed Vigo and Junichi into a rather open train car, which caused Ava to tilt her head.  
"Jun," she looked skeptically at the Capitol woman, "what is this about?"  
"You'll see in a moment, kid," Vigo rolled up his sleeves. "Jun, you might want to dress more appropriately next time."

"You should know better than to challenge the Capitol!" she taunted, although the way she said it made it clear that she was more referring to an inside-joke rather than trying to rub the Capitol's iron fist in Vigo's face, "the only result is defeat." The only "change" to her outfit she made was that she unzipped the side of her skirt to give her legs some movement (and show off her right thigh and hip, perhaps).  
"I suggest letting your fists do the talking, Ms. Prim-and-Pompous." Vigo retorted. Junichi gasped.

"It ends here." She gritted her teeth, and before Ava knew what was happening, the two of them were striking at each other. Their movements were rather graceful (which Ava found particularly impressive on Junichi's part, given that she was in a suit and heels), and they moved like a pair of martial artists. Ava recognized some of these moves as ones that Vigo had taught her during some of their free time.

However, more than anything, Ava was laughing.

"I am NOT actually seeing this!" she exclaimed in disbelief as she watched her mentor and escort duke it out like a couple of brawlers. She was partially convinced that she had just seen the biggest highlight of her victory tour right here and right now.

Every time one of them struck at the other, it was blocked with their arms, which was rather impressive considering some of the rolling jumps, kicks, and flips that Vigo and even Junichi were performing. Now and again, they circled one another, competitive expressions dominating their visages. It was difficult for Ava to discern who would win this fight, because they both seemed to read and predict each other fairly well. Clearly, however, this was not something they had expected from each other. Ava recognized some of Vigo's moves as things he had taught her on her free time.

Suddenly, Vigo lunged, with Junichi using her palms to block Vigo's striking feet, sending the mentor a few feet back, but he landed on his feet either way. Junichi followed this up by flipping herself completely over Vigo in what could only be described as an awe-inspiring barrel-roll flip (or something like that. It might have had some fancy name or something, but Ava certainly did not know what it was). Either way, Junichi wound up behind Vigo, pivoting on her heel and striking his shoulder with the side of her hand before stopping and smirking.

"Damn it!" the man swore, shaking his head. "I never would have thought someone like you would actually know self-defense like that… ridiculous—you evil woman."

Junichi simply chuckled, rubbing Vigo's back for a moment the way a friend would. "As much as I love you, Vigo," she chuckled, "I'm a woman of my word, and so I will be expecting payment."

"What do you even do with all that money?" Ava couldn't help but ask. "You're clearly a very rich woman, Junichi."  
"The money I win from Vigo?" Junichi tilted her head as she straightened her blue hair and brushed dust off of her clothes, "I simply hold onto it so I can bet him again next time he wants to give me money. If in the rare occasion I lose a bet, I have something to pay it off with so I can remain a woman of my word."

"You're a special kind of evil," Ava shook her head, before smiling up at the red-eyed Capitol lady. "I might have to jump in on that."

"Aye, I might've been responsible to teaching her about gambling, before you ask, Jun" Vigo pointed out, "No, I am not sorry, nor will I ever be."

"Well then," Junichi had a smile on her face that she appeared to be trying to hide, "I am going to go get cleaned up. You two stay out of trouble."

With that, the click of the escort's heels became quieter, leaving the two victors alone in the train car together. They went back to an adjacent car so they could have a place to sit and talk.

"Was Junichi always like this?" she asked the older victor,

"Always like what?" Vigo glanced at the tiny girl next to her.

"Always so relatable," Ava explained, "so down-to-earth… so cool."

"I broke her," Vigo chuckled, "Nah… I dunno what it was; just that by the time my victory tour came around, she was a very different woman than the one I met at the reapings. It's a long story though—maybe she can tell you it one day. Me… I'm just here to inform you that tomorrow we'll arrive in District 1—the first stop of your tour."  
At one point, the Capitol had changed the victory tour so that victors now went through the districts starting with 1 and ending with 12 (still skipping their home district of course). It had been the opposite way around in some of the earlier games.

The spar between Vigo and Junichi had been the most interesting to happen on the trip though. Early the next morning, Ava was woken up, cleaned, and dressed in a dazzlingly pink and glittery gown that would be her outfit for the stop in District 1. They were the Luxury District, and so glitz and glamour were pretty much their thing.

Ava's reception was somewhat mixed, considering that District 1 had been one of her primary enemies during the games. It made her worried about District 4, one of which Ava had killed in the bloodbath, and the other being the tribute that Ava hate the strongest feelings of hatred for, despite briefly pitying the girl in her vulnerable final moments. Then again, Districts 1 and 2 did not necessarily have the best relationships with District 12 (or District 11, which was kind of like District 12's "sister district"), so maybe she could chalk it up to that.

Ava was not the most eloquent speaker, but her speech to the District 1 crowds managed to stay fairly generic and prevent emotions from growing too strong. She spoke of the dedication that Zaffre Jade and Lazuli Cohen had demonstrated in the games and for volunteering for their district. One thing she knew better than to mention was the fact that perhaps if they had not been forced into an arena to kill each other, their relationship might have been different. Still, with the loyalty to the Capitol that this district held, the speech was fairly simple, and ended with a few well-written words about the unity of Panem. Ava owed Junichi for that one.

The victory tours had evolved over the years, and the reversal of the order was not the only thing that had happened. Perhaps to shed a more positive light on them, the victor and his or her team now spent much of the day in the district, in a half-day feast (for the speech did not start till nearly noon anyways) that went until after dark. It was often fairly festive, and sometimes an opportunity to meet new faces—or so the Capitol promoted it as. There were difficulties too though, especially given that the victor potentially could meet the friends or families of the deceased.

Thankfully, none of that happened to Ava. The families of Zaffre and Lazuli seemed uninterested in her, and so both parties minded their own business, but enjoyed the festivities nonetheless. It was only later that evening as they were boarding the train that Ava felt her stomach sink—and not because of all the food she had eaten.

Tomorrow they would be visiting District 2.


	40. Chapter 40: District Heroes

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Welcome to District 2. We meet a handful of interesting people here, including a couple of old women who will be important to remember. Obviously this is only half of the stop, and so the rest gets covered next time. We also get to meet Chaco and Chel's mentor Clove. She's got a rather interesting dynamic to her that will be revealed in this chapter and the next one. She's not as bad as she seems though. Don't worry._

**CHAPTER 40: District Heroes**

Ava knew that today would be much different form yesterday. District 2 was in close proximity to District 1, and so most of the travelling had been done overnight between the District 1 feast and the arrival in District 2. Similar to last time, Ava was woken up, cleaned up, and dressed up. This time her outfit was a navy blue suit that looked like some type of military uniform. Her hair, normally so lank and uncooperative, was tied back in a professional-looking bun, and her makeup was slight but professional. She was kind of relieved to just have normal dress shoes instead of heels as well, but in the end, there was something very clearly weighing her down that she did not express to her stylists.

Vigo on the other hand, caught onto this the moment he saw the girl sit down to put some food in her belly prior to her speech.

"What's on your mind, kid?" He asked, feeling calmer about this stop than the last one.

"I killed them both," Ava explained, "If it wasn't for me, Chel probably would have won."  
"Maybe I missed a detail or two," Vigo noted, "but Iris had poisoned the blades that she slashed Chel with in those final minutes. We were fairly certain that the only reason she was staying alive was because everyone was expecting that bird to do you in."

"yeah, but if it wasn't for me, she probably would have stayed with the careers to begin with, only turning on them in the end." Ava sighed, "She deserved to come home, Vigo. I've never met anyone as wonderful as Chel Colorado in all my life."

"A lot of people don't deserve to die there," Vigo reminded her, "and at the moment, we can't even complain about the reason they go and die."  
"I know," Ava sighed, "it's just… killing Chel was the most horrible moment of my life… I saw my best friend, clinging to life by a thread, beseeching me to kill her and put her out of her misery. Then, to see her body…" she shuddered, her eyes watering. "Vigo… do you know how much it hurt to see them take away a girl that just moments before, I had been talking and laughing with?"

"I do, to an extent," Vigo nodded, "but you know my limits. There's only so much about my games you understand, just as there's only so much about yours that I understand. Either way, I'm here for support, y'know. I think you could give Chel and even Chaco the eulogies they deserve without the whole place erupting into riots. District 2 is far too disciplined, and loyal to the Capitol to do that."

Within a few minutes, the train began to slow as it approached the District 2 station. Ava nodded at Vigo's reassurance, although it did not dispel all of her fears just yet.

"Well then… wish me luck." She looked almost longingly into Vigo's eyes before the train pulled into place coming to a complete stop.

"Here we are; District 2!" Junichi beamed, "I'm sure they're excited to meet the newest victor!"

Ava was not sure if Junichi was having an airheaded moment or not, but after stepping onto the stage, she soon found out.

She was met with almost roaring applause, as if she had done something truly heroic. There was passion in the voices of the crowds, which just made Ava confused. Was this all an act? She knew that sometimes it was—but why act so passionate about something like this? What could they have to gain from pretending to like Ava's presence? No, despite the orderly and disciplined nature that District 2 gave off, there was something odd about this place that Ava could not put her finger on.

Ava's eyes watered up as she approached the stage, and saw the holographic image of Chel behind a couple of large adults. Even with them in the distance like they were, Ava could see the strong resemblance they had to their daughter behind them. Chaco on the other hand apparently had two younger siblings; both sisters.

Soon, Ava's fanfare ended, and her speech began. She stuttered a little in the opening lines, before getting into the meat of what she wanted to say.

"I did not know Chaco as well as I knew Chel… but in our final encounter, I learned all I needed to know. The boy fought bravely; honorably. He was everything that District 2 stands for: courage, bravery, loyalty to his cause. Perhaps more than that though, I saw a good young man whose odds had turned against him. District 2 lost a fine boy that day…"  
She paused, already choking up and she had not even uttered a word about Chel yet. She couldn't hold this in though—she had to speak her mind about Chel Colorado, the heroic and selfless girl who had touched Ava's life more strongly than anyone else had ever done.

"Chel…" Ava closed her eyes to try and curb the water that was congregating in them, "Chel was the most amazing person anyone could ever dream of meeting. She too was strong, courageous, intelligent, and steadfast. She was also the most loyal ally a victor could ever dream of having. Chel was the kind of woman who could brighten up anyone's day with her smiles or her laughs." She actually sniffled, and was nearly whimpering at this point just trying to hold herself together. She longed so dearly right now to just hear Chel's voice—for her to pop out of the crowds and surprise Ava that she wasn't actually dead, and that it had just been an elaborate joke. But, she knew that could not happen. She had killed the girl herself and seen them take her body away, and even with that vivid dream she had had back in the Capitol a few months ago, she knew that there was no bringing Chel Colorado back.

"I know that our districts are very different, and we may not have the best relationship with each other…" Ava softly began wrapping up, "but Chel Colorado was the most wonderful friend I ever met. The world needs more people like her, and I will never forget the Hero of District 2."  
Her speech from here wound down to the more generic closing material that would placate the Capitol (and perhaps District 2, given its loyalty to said Capitol), but after all was said and done, Ava was met with more thunderous applause, which she was grateful for—it made her soft sobbing much less audible as she stepped off the stage. District 2 seemed content with having its ego stroked, and so the cheering helped mask Ava's sobbing, although it was clear that the young victor was doing just that considering that she was clinging to her mentor rather fervently.

The District 2 feast was different from what Ava had expected. For one, she was surprised that for a district so well-disciplined, they knew how to let loose when they had a reason to celebrate—even if it was a rather morbid thing to celebrate. Maybe that explained the large presence of alcohol, which Vigo and Junichi both partook in. While most other children were forbidden to partake in it, this rule did not ever apply to victors, and even Ava tried some before the night was through.

The searing pain that shot down her throat was enough to make the girl tell herself that she'd stay sober for life, until Vigo pointed out that she had chosen one of the more potent brews. Still, Ava shook her head and decided to pass on that for now.

On the note of victors, Ava and Vigo ran into three women: Two of them were very old and were stark contrasts to each other: One of them was a rather robust old woman who still stood at a rather impressive height considering that she was literally 81 years old. The other one, a slightly younger (70, to be exact) woman, was a tiny little thing with long, wispy hair. In front of them was a girl in her early 30s who was sneering at Ava, who looked a little taken aback.

"So this is our newest victor, mm?" the youngest woman quipped as the two elderly ladies seated themselves next to her, "I'm surprised Chel decided to ally with someone like you of all people."

Ava paused, and then recognized this girl: Clove Kazera, victor of the 74th Hunger Games.

"Is that a bad thing?" Ava retorted, ready to use some of her sarcasm if this woman turned hostile. She might have been Chel's mentor, but that did not mean that Ava had to like her.

"I would have thought it was," Clove quipped, "But you turned out to be more useful than I thought. Chel always spoke so highly of you every night, and I never understood it. Why was she so fond of a puny, useless little shit from District 12?"

"I beg your pardon," Ava glared sternly at the older woman, who, while only standing at 5'2" herself, was still much taller than Ava's 4'9" figure.

"Anyways, then you went and killed 6 tributes in the arena, and put a 7th one out of her misery. Then I became intrigued and wished to learn more about this little insignificant girl who had somehow defeated some of the most powerful tributes in years, to emerge the victor of the 91st Annual Hunger Games." Clove continued, "I knew that Chel was no idiot, and suddenly, everything she did made sense to me. I salute you, Aveline Lelani Togisala… in the strangest way."

"I did not wish to kill Chel," Ava sighed, "I hope you know that."

"Shit, kid. That's the name of the game. You do what you have to, and never regret it."  
"No," Ava insisted, "no, I can regret it all I want. My best friend was killed by my own hand. If we were not in a death arena, we could have saved her."

"Are you calling me a liar?!" Clove's eyes began to narrow. From behind Clove, the tiny old woman brandished a needle, which Ava saw, but Clove did not.

"Yes I am," Ava sternly answered, "You have no right to talk shit about me or what I did. If you want to be judgmental towards me to my face, I'm going to knock you the fuck down."

"Then perhaps you should have died with Chel," Clove snapped, working to get up as if to dive over the table at Ava. However, before she could complete this attempt, the older woman behind Clove jammed the needle right into the back of the belligerent woman's neck, causing her to freeze, her eyes glazing over as her head slumped back in her chair. Clove was no longer moving.


	41. Chapter 41: Secrets of District 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Clove is not as bad as she seemed in the last chapter. She's a fairly unstable individual, and so if she's that bad and still considered one of the "better" ones, that definitely means something is afoot in District 2 with their numerous victors. But... perhaps that is for another time. In this chapter, we get to see Clove's better side, as well as learn who these older women are, and what this little group is all about. Chel was not the only decent person to come from District 2, after all..._

**CHAPTER 41: Secrets of District 2**

Ava gazed at the glazed-eyed girl in front of her who now lay motionless, and then at the small woman who had just jabbed her. "you killed her!" she gasped,

"Nah," the larger woman shook her head, "we simply sedated her. She'll be back around in a few minutes, and will be much calmer."

"Alright…" Ava seemed skeptical, "so what was that all about? Also, who are you two?"  
"I am Lyme Golding," the larger woman introduced herself, "Victor of the 28th Hunger Games."  
"And I am Leto Irizari," the tiny woman added, "Victor of the 35th Hunger Games. Anyways, allow me to explain this situation. For starters, Clove Kazera has never been a very stable individual. Needless to say, the games did not help that a bit. Most of the time, the kid keeps a level head, but now and again, she'll come at people and try to attack them, so you sedate her with some of these." She brandished some needles between her fingers. "She's not that bad when she's sedated."

Slowly, Clove began stirring, clutching her forehead, although Ava and Leto continued speaking.

"Was the trauma of the games that bad?" the much newer victor asked,

"For some it was," Leto nodded, taking a shot from her glass, "but I can tell you right now that years of training specifically for these games can do a lot to a kid. Don't get me wrong—I can see some of the logic behind why they want to do what they do, but some of them come back a mess. If you think Clove was bad, you should have seen '81 and '82. Clove was one of the better ones."

"Thanks for the compliment," Clove grunted, massaging her forehead as her eyes came back into focus. "Leto's right, kid. District 2 has won twice since my game, and I mentored them both. Those poor sods aren't fit to mentor anyone—so I came back."  
"What happened to them?" Ava looked concerned. If victors from Panem's strongest district—the Capitol's favorite—were ending up in horrifying scenarios, something was wrong here. It made her wonder if Chel would have suffered the same fate if she had won.

"A lot of 'em just don't know how to adjust," Clove shook her head, "they're strong and decent people if they can crawl out of one of the arenas alive, but that's about all that can be said about them. Do you know what we all have in common?" she motioned to Ava, and then to the two older woman behind her, "we're all killers. Here in District 2, it's what we live for. Well… Chel was different. Chaco wasn't half bad either. I was banking on them doing a lot worse because of it."

"What was Chel like?" she asked, "before the games, I mean. Did you know her much?"  
"I know every tribute that passes through the academies," Clove bragged, "Chel included. I liked her because she was one of the only ones that didn't change a damn bit when they threw her into the arena. I'll hand it to her—the girl was funny. She could make me laugh. To be honest, I hated to see her go, but I'm glad that nothing could actually take her down but a mercy-kill."  
"I know it's probably meaningless to say it now, but I did not want to kill her," Ava sighed, "That was the worst thing I've ever been forced to do."  
"Shit, girl, I'm more surprised than pissed." Clove interjected, "Chel always used to say she'd go out with a bang, and I think hers is a legacy that isn't going anywhere. There's a statue of her in front of the academies, you know. I myself erected one in front of the justice building even."  
"They let you do that?" Ava exclaimed,

"I'm Clove Kazera. I do whatever the hell I want. I'm also a stonemason. We're not all military fighters and peacekeepers and stuff."  
"you were a vicious fighter in your games though!" Ava exclaimed,

"You killed 7 tributes, little missy." Clove almost irritatingly pinched Ava's cheek. Times like that made her really wish she was larger, so that people would stop treating her like a small child. "What's your point? We're all killers—us victors. Welcome to the club."

Ava paused, putting her hand to her chest right where Chel's necklace adorned her neck. Clove noticed it, and seemed to also recognize the piece of jewelry.

"Nice necklace," she complimented, "Chel gave that to you?"

"She did," Ava lowered her head as if in respect. "I've kind of started cherishing it… it's beautiful just like she was—it reminds me of her."  
"A coping mechanism is a coping mechanism," Clove nodded understandingly, "it's better than my way of coping—getting stabbed in the neck, wouldn't you say?" she chuckled calmly.  
"You're so calm now… well, now that you've been sedated." Ava seemed cautious.

"You seem so worried," Clove shook her head, "where's the kid I saw in the arena? I thought we had actually gotten a tough victor this year."  
This set Ava off exactly the way Clove wanted it to.

"Look," she glared at the older woman, "I'm not about to go killing anyone anymore. You might want to, but you're not me. We victors might understand the hells and horrors that we've all gone through, but you don't know the fears and horrors I deal with any more than I would understand why you have to get stabbed with a needle every few hours."

If there was one thing Clove liked that was not getting a reaction out of people, it was people who stood up for themselves. Ava had seemed so meek and mellow after her games (although Clove had also quietly admired the girl's speech earlier), but to see that she still had that spunk left in her had garnered the older victor's approval.

"Good to see you're still on your toes, kid." She remarked, "Now, listen closely…"  
Ava listened, although had not been oblivious to the fact that Clove changed subjects very frequently. Perhaps this was another sign of her instability or something.

"There's significant unease in District 2 as of late, and it shows probably the worst among our victors. '81 and '82? Those back to back victors from the 81st and 82nd Hunger Games? They're in no state to mentor, which is why I came back."  
"What happened to them?" Ava tilted her head.

"They learned the same truth that one of my mentors taught me. Enobaria Taos has mentioned it before as well." She lowered her voice. "For how much we love the Capitol, they do not seem to care about our misfortunes. It's a victor thing though, so don't be spreading this shit around or anything. Most people are content with the lives they lead here. Good for them, if you ask me. However, there are so many District 2 victors that the Capitol has almost stopped caring about us."  
"Chel mentioned something like that," Ava nodded, "I was curious as to what she meant, but I didn't like talking about victors because I didn't want to have to think about us killing each other."

"Well, again. Look at '81 and '82—those kids are in no stable condition. Shit, even I'm pretty bad off, but apparently am stable enough to mentor and to take whatever drugs they stick into me. We know they have what it would take to fix these kids—and that's saying something coming from me. They were strong. I don't care about the weak ones, but they lost it after their consecutive victories."

"Was it something from the games?" Ava tilted her head.

"That's the story," Leto added, for she and Lyme were still present.

"Still," Ava shook her head, glaring at Clove, "you don't have to be a bitch about this, Clove."  
Clove shook her head, chuckling. "fine… I was just testing you anyways," she grunted, "you have the guts to stand up for yourself even after all the shit you've been through. I respect that. I don't say this to just anyone, kid… but you have my respect."

"Then perhaps we can get along," Ava nodded, "Thank you." Even with that cleared up, however, Ava still asked the older women about the situation here.

"Ava," Lyme added, "basically what we and Clove are trying to say here is that while most of District 2 is clearly aligned with the Capitol, there is discord among us, particularly in the Victor Village. Me, Leto, Clove, and Enobaria are the leaders of this operation, but we know that we're disgustingly outnumbered. It seems the only time this shit ever gets through to people around here is if they volunteer and win the Hunger Games."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ava seemed confused, "I'm not a revolutionary…"  
"We want you to understand, kid," Clove pointed out, "You had a very close relationship with the good side of District 2—Chel was that embodiment. We're proud, and part of being proud means being able to think for ourselves instead of letting the Capitol dictate our mindset. Just remember us, Aveline. Remember the real side of District 2 that you saw in Chel Colorado. Your willingness to trust a District 2 girl that could have very well turned and murdered you at any moment, was significant here. There's a reason we welcomed you so warmly."  
"That was honestly one of the biggest surprises," Ava admitted, "I expected angry glares and grudging applause for killing both of your tributes this year."  
"See, one of the things about the careers and the Hunger Games, is that it's just business," Clove explained, pulling out a knife and twirling it in her hands calmly. "We turn on each other if we get that far, and it's nothing personal—it's just the name of the game. Yeah, it sucks that they're gone and it sucks when we don't win, but there's always next time until we can do something to stop the Capitol from messing up our victors, anyways. Shit happens. Let's drink."  
Ava shrugged, figuring that she had learned enough about District 2 for the time being, and so with an understanding nod, she accepted these words. These were fairly profound remarks.

However, shortly after Ava resumed eating, the drinks started flowing, and the hard-partying commenced. District 2 knew how to party and knew how to party hard, and Ava learned this as she drank and ate and participated in merriment. Before she knew it, the slightly tipsy Ava was being dragged back by either her stylists or by some crew member. Vigo and Junichi were wiped clean out, and so they too were dragged back to the train.

Ava had little recollection of the evening after the party, but when she woke up briefly in the middle of the night, she realized she had learned a lot about District 2. Perhaps they were better allies to her than she originally thought.


	42. Chapter 42: Controversial Matters

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _We do get to fly through a few of the districts owing to a lack of anything significant happening in them, and we get to also touch on one of Aveline's greatest fears of the tour: District 4. Vigo and Junichi might spend a lot of time comforting Ava, but it's because they understand what she's been through to different extents. Vigo has lived horrors of his own, and Junichi is just a very understanding and comforting type of woman._  
_I can also say that the victors from District 8 that we meet will be significant somewhere down the line, if not in this story. Otherwise... Happy Reading!_

**CHAPTER 42: Controversial Matters**

Ava's stop in District 3 was similar to that of District 1. Ava spoke respectfully of Alice and Samuel, particularly the latter, who she had only engaged in combat out of necessity. There seemed to be slightly more a rebellious undertone in her words, at least according to how the audiences interpreted them. However, it was otherwise without incident, and Ava's outfit reminded her of the one she and Wes had worn during the parade, except instead of diamonds, it had little black and green lights that gave off a techy kind of feeling.

That night though, as she boarded the train, Ava felt a pit in her stomach as she slumped down, tired and ready for bed, but at the same time, too worried to sleep. Junichi caught onto this first, and sat next to the smaller girl, running her fingers across her back in that reassuring way that friends do. It calmed Ava's nerves a bit, but she was still riled up from concern.

"You seem stressed," Jun asked, "was District 3 that bad?"  
"No, it was okay," Ava sighed, slumping her chin into her folded arms. "I'm worried about tomorrow. I have nothing positive to say about Cress or Iris, or even District 4. I hate them all, and am fairly certain that they detest me for it."

"If it is any consolation," Junichi continued softly rubbing Ava's back, "They cannot harm you without incurring the wrath of the Peacekeepers. The Capitol loves their victors too much for that." While she was very down-to-earth, obviously the woman would be very familiar with Capitol Law and such. "I can write your speech for you if you wish. That is one of the many reasons I'm here, you know."  
"That would actually be really nice," Ava heaved a sigh of relief, "I don't care if it's the most generic thing this side of District 9; I just don't want to blow up and start screaming profanities about Iris, because if I think too hard about her, I will. I thought I felt sympathy for her after seeing her in such a ruined state before I killed her… but I just… I just can't, Jun. After seeing what she did to Wes… I can't forgive that—not this soon, at least."

"I would not expect you to," Junichi nodded understandingly, "I have noticed your troubles, and Vigo has shared a few of them with me. You've changed so much in the last 6 months."  
"Most of it can be attributed to those two weeks of hell," Ava reminded her, "There was more that destroyed me than just Iris Durango, you know."

"I have no doubt," Junichi continued rubbing the depressed little victor's back. "I know there is not much I can say that can help you at this point, Aveline, but know this—you have people from the Capitol on your side. They are a much smaller minority even than District 2, but they are there."

She gave Ava a smile as if to indicate who she was talking about.

"You're the best, Junichi," Ava sighed after a moment, and put her arms around the sharp-dressed woman, "I owe you… for this, for my speech tomorrow… for a lot of things."

"I will do what I can to prevent any incident," Junichi promised, "in the meantime, get some sleep—we can't have you passing out on the floor tomorrow during your speech!"  
Junichi's bubbliness did help Ava a bit more, and slowly the small girl returned to her quarters, stripping down and crawling into bed.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ava had a horribly rough night. First she dreamed that she was attacked by Cress, who chased her all throughout the train. She ran all the way to the front of the train, where she found that Iris was the engineer, after the small girl turned around, grinning malevolently. Naturally this didn't end well because she attacked, lacerating Ava the same way she had done so with Wes. The more she watched herself (from first-person, no less) get maimed, the more Iris' face morphed into the face of that monster from the arena who was built in Katniss' likeness. Needless to say, Ava woke up screaming, in a cold sweat.

It did not help that the train had stopped and they were already in District 4. Ava was rushed through the morning makeover, and somehow still managed to look good, while a relieved Junichi opened the door of the train as Ava set out to greet the people of District 4, apprehensive as ever.

If she thought Iris was hostile, then Ava was by no means prepared for how malevolent and vicious these people all looked. Ava had never expected it to be this way—she could maybe see District 2 this vehement in general (even if that had proven false), but she would not have ever thought District 4 had it in them.

The silence was frightening. No one was clapping—not even the peacekeepers or Capitol officials. Instead, everyone was glaring fiercely at Ava.

"Kill her!" someone in the audience shouted, snatching a gun from a peacekeeper and firing a shot towards Ava. She felt herself stumble, and the voices around her breaking into a riot, with Junichi and Vigo panicking as she tumbled backwards, clutching her chest where the bullet had hit. What had she done? Were Iris and Cress really that important? Wouldn't the Capitol have something to say about a random citizen killing one of their victors?

Everything grew hazy, and slowly it culminated in a mess of indiscernible noises.

Ava sat bolt upright, letting out a bloodcurdling scream. Blinking a few times, she realized that it was still pitch black outside, and the train was still quietly humming as it flew down the rails from District 3 across Panem to District 4.

There was a knock at the door and then someone flipped on some dim lights. Ava squinted, and saw that it was Vigo, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.

"For how tiny you are, you sure are loud…" he groaned, rubbing his eyes. He was completely unfazed by the fact that Ava was also in her undergarments. The Capitol seemed to desensitize tributes and victors to that sort of thing fairly quickly.

"Vigo…" Ava was crying real tears now, "IT WAS AWFUL!" she threw her arms around the older man, still sobbing frantically. Vigo did not even have to ask what happened—he knew, and he was one of only 91 people in Panem who truly did.

"Another nightmare, I take it?" he muttered softly, running his fingers through Ava's hair. His mother used to do it with his hair given how long it was.

"Are they common?" Ava whimpered, "I've had them a lot in the last 6 months…"

"It varies from victor to victor…" Vigo pointed out, "but they're fairly common at least for the first year. You just kind of get used to it after a while. Eventually, you just have to accept that you're one of 91 really messed up people and that nothing anyone does can ever restore you to the way you were before. A lot of us just call it "Victor's Syndrome". Don't try letting someone else explain it to you unless they've survived the 'games themselves. Sympathy's fine, but as nice as it would be for it to be otherwise, no one else can really compare."

"I'm lost Vigo," Ava shook her head, "why would anyone volunteer for this? Either you die a painful death, or you live and become just a broken shell of your old self…"  
"I think the worst part about it is the age they make you do it at." Vigo suggested, "not to be offensive or anything, but kids your age aren't the most emotionally stable creatures out there. But to put them into a deathtrap and force them to kill 23 other kids their age? That kind of shit would scar an adult. To scar a kid like that during the most fragile time of their lives is just disgustingly sadistic. I know we've talked about it hundreds of times before, Ava, but as I promised—I'm here if you need me."

"Thanks," Ava slowly collected herself, "I'm just nervous for tomorrow."

"Well, try to get some sleep then…" Vigo suggested, "not to quote Junichi here, but you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow." He ruffled Ava's hair, and then left Ava alone.

Thankfully she slept without incident, and the trip to District 4 was not nearly as horrifying as it had been in her dream. She did get a few nasty glares from some people, including an older couple that Ava assumed had to be Mr. and Mrs. Durango. She could not look them in the eyes for the fierce glares they were giving to their daughter's killer. If Ava's footage in the arena had not been cut, then it was clear that her vocal hatred of Iris had not gone over well.

Luckily, the rest of the night went by without incident, and soon Ava was on her way to District 5. This district, as well as 6 and 7 were fairly eventless, for Ava had not really known the tributes. She remembered the places though—District 5 put on an amazing light show, District 6 had given her a bottle of morphling-like substance that Vigo warned her not to touch, and District 7 had unsurprisingly shown impressive displays of woodwork that intrigued and inspired Ava.

District 8 was a slightly different experience. Here she met several more victors, including an older man who had two grown-up daughters, one of which had also been a Hunger Games participant in her youth (and thus a victor considering she was still alive now). Both of these women had small children of their own—the older woman had a girl and a boy, and the younger one had two boys.

Perhaps the oddest thing about them though, was that there were no spouses. The man seemed to be a widower (though he looked to be about 60, so maybe his wife had simply passed away early), but the two women, who were only in their early 30s, looked to be widows.

Asking them about this turned out to be a strange experience. The man looked up at her, still sketching an image on the table in front of her.

"My family was not killed by chance," the older man had explained, "But I can warn you right now—it is what *they* do if they think you're a threat to the regime."  
"I'm not a threat though," Ava shook her head, "As powerful as I might have been, I'm no match for the Capitol. I just want to live my life."

"That is what we all want," the man nodded slowly. "I'm not about to try and preach a revolution here… but would you favor an old man by hearing me out?"

Slightly hesitantly, Aveline nodded.

"Well get comfortable then." The man continued sketching, "I'm about to tell you the story of Paige Alwin."


	43. Chapter 43: Victors in the Shadows

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Aveline's victory tour continues, as we pass through a few more districts—some significant; others not. Victors are shady and mysterious people full of all kinds of stories and secrets. Ava is set to join them as she meets a few more like her, and like Leto, Lyme, &amp; Clove from District 2. In fine, she is certainly not alone in her disdain for the Capitol. This is more than just an ordinary victory tour after all..._  
_Happy reading!_

**Chapter 43: Victors in the Shadows**

The older man backed up on his story, first introducing himself as Alice DeSiete. Ava found his name odd, because she had always associated 'Alice' to be a girl's name, especially since it had even been the name of the District 3 girl that Chel had killed. He introduced the two women as Hanna and Paige, with Hanna as the younger one and Paige as the older one.

"So you're Paige Alwin?" she asked the older daughter. Paige simply laughed.

"I'm Paige DeSiete, just like my dad." She thumbed towards the older man, who was sketching again. "I was named after Paige Alwin though. My sister was named after her lover, who was turned into an Avox decades ago."  
"Who are the kids?" Ava asked curiously, looking at the little girl and boy beside Paige.

"This is Lyndis," she pointed to the girl, "and that's Nesara." She nodded towards the boy. "They were also the names of two of the famous tributes from my father's Hunger Games."

"Did you have any friends in your own?" Ava asked, thinking back to her own games, where she briefly thought that if she ever had kids, she would name a boy Wesley, or a girl Chel, in honor of those she had lost. "Or were you alone the whole time?"  
"I was mostly alone," Paige answered, "just like my namesake."  
"So who *was* Paige Alwin?" Ava asked, and Alice DeSiete smirked, but lowered his voice.

"Paige Alwin…" he began, "is the name of the revolution—the key to the end of the Hunger Games."

Ava's eyes widened. "are… are you serious?"  
"I'm dead serious." Alice nodded, "I have been formulating this idea for literally almost 50 years, and if it goes the way I want it to, we wouldn't even need to be backed by all twelve districts. I will explain more at a more appropriate time though. For now… I need to tell you who Paige Alwin was."

Ava was paying close attention, and thus Alice continued.

"Paige Alwin was my district partner 45 years ago in the 46th Hunger Games." The older man continued, "There are plenty of tributes who have low odds, but Paige… Paige's odds were literally zero. They had rigged the reapings against her, and had rigged her odds. The Gamemakers were targeting her, purposely trying to kill her."  
"That's horrible!" Ava gasped, "What did she do that was so bad?"  
"She was a revolutionary, just like me," Alice replied, "in fact… I am a revolutionary because of her. They wanted her silenced, and after it was known that I was a rebel at heart, Snow went for me… I had nothing to lose to him at the time: no friends, no family… just myself. He spared my children because he tried to reap them into the games. My wife, and my son-in-laws… not so lucky."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ava seemed confused, "I'm not a hero; I'm no Girl on Fire…"

"Heh," Alice chuckled, "That term is also older than you think…"  
This was new news to Ava. She had always thought it had belonged to Katniss Everdeen because of her stylist outfits during her games.

"There was a District 11 victor—44th Games, who popularized that term… they called her that because she wore fiery dresses and because her favorite color was red. You'll recognize her when you see her. Anyways, I digress. You don't have to be a hero, Ava. Just know that you make a difference. You're a victor: a champion; a model; someone to look up to. You don't have to start a revolution; just keep in mind what I have said."

Ava nodded. "I'll… I'll do what I can." It was true that the idea of revolution was a nice one—prying one's self and district from Capitol Rule… no more Hunger Games, for one thing. Perhaps this was what Chel meant when she had said that the spirit of liberation in District 2 was not dead… definitely something to think about, as Ava spent the rest of the evening making merriment and wondering about that Sagittaria Svenja woman. All in all it was a good stop, and Ava would not be quick to forget District 8.

Districts 9 and 10 were as unmemorable as they had been in the games (despite the latter producing a volunteer, who went and died in the opening seconds). District 11, however, reminded Ava very much of District 12. By the time she was dressed up (in a brownish summer dress with light sandals and a colorful sash reminiscent of the fall harvest) and pulling into the station, she was ready for this.

The reception here was almost deafening. She had not received such a warm welcome since District 2. Ava found this odd (although perhaps not as odd as the Capitol's most loyal district cheering her so adamantly), given that she had not really interacted much with Florence and Ginger. However, she and Chel had both spared the pair, with Chel, who everyone knew was Ava's best friend, having spared them twice. It was not something they would overlook, especially given that in the end, neither Chel nor Ava had been the ones to kill them.

Ava's speech here had been short and sweet regarding the tributes, although she did dish out a handful of compliments to District 11, citing their clever tributes which were surely a result of competent mentors and a life in the district full of hard work, but also lauding them for wanting to ally with her brother Wes, even if the poor boy didn't even get to make it out of the bloodbath. That was still one of the most irksome things about the 'games to her. He had deserved better. Surely Iris had been set off when Ava killed Cress, her partner, and so took it out on Wesley, who was easier to get to and not protected by the gigantic Chel. She had particularly hoped to get Wes and Chel to become friends before one of them died, but had not even been given that luxury.

Soon enough though, her speech had ended, and the rest of the evening was the feast and festivities, for which Ava was grateful. She had someone she wanted to speak to, and knew exactly how to find her. There was a middle-aged woman in a fiery red dress, and after she and Ava crossed paths, she realized that this was who she was looking for. This was the great Sagittaria Suki Svenja that had won the 44th Hunger Games decades ago. Incidentally, she did not need to approach this woman, for this woman approached her instead.

"Well, well, if it isn't our newest victor!" the fiery girl beamed, "Sagittaria Suki Svenja, at your service. That's kind of a mouthful though, so if you want, call me Saj."  
"Ava," Ava replied, although she felt compelled to share her full name since the older woman had done the same thing. "Aveline Lelani Togisala."

"Well, welcome to the life of victor-dom," Sagittaria smiled. Ava extended her left hand, where to her surprise, Sagittaria did the same.

"I didn't know you were left-handed," Ava exclaimed,

"It saved my life once actually," Saj chuckled, "but I suppose that's another story—unless that's what you wanted to talk to me about?"  
"Well there's that," Ava nodded, "but I heard you popularized the phrase "Girl on Fire". What's the story behind that one, if you don't mind me asking?"  
As a fellow Hunger Games victor, she understood that there were some things that other victors might not want to talk about.

Sagittaria paused for a moment. "Girl on Fire was a term they used for me because of a variety of things." She explained, "For one, me and my partner, a heroic young man named Rye Grove, were kind of opposites when we first met. I was the hot and passionate one, and he was the cool and collected one. Well… we somehow got along really well, and our stylists dressed us up in costumes resembling fire and ice… obviously you can tell which one I was."  
"How did he die?" Ava asked, and instantly regretted it because of how Sagittaria's smile melted right off of her face.

"No, don't answer that," she began, instantly thinking back to how she had had to kill Chel. It was almost as if she knew the answer before Saj had even opened her mouth. The older woman reached into her dress and pulled out a worn silver dollar.

"He and I were the last two tributes in the arena," Saj began, "we were both in fairly good condition, so we tossed a coin to see who had to kill the other…"  
She sighed, closing her eyes and her hand around the coin. "I lost… and I had to kill the boy I fell in love with…" the older woman was actually nearly crying from reciting this, "even today, with all of the shitty decisions I've made in my life… that one, that lone incident where I let an arrow go through the forehead of the boy I loved more than anyone else… that; that was the worst moment of my life and the most horrible thing I have ever done."

"That's how I felt killing Chel," Ava sighed, "I know she was dying anyways, but she was my friend… the best friend I ever had. She and Rye are people that should not have had to die…"

Sagittaria nodded slowly. "There are numerous young men and women that shouldn't have to die. I don't know if you got this lecture or not from a man named Alice DeSiete, but he's definitely someone worth listening to…"

Ava looked surprised. "you mean about revolu—"

"SHHH!" Saj silenced Ava, "not too loud. But aye; exactly that. Don't think about it too hard, and especially don't go telling it on the mountain. For now, just kick back, have a drink, and I'll tell you some of my stories. No one will suspect a thing."  
Ava listened to Sagittaria's advice, although with two districts speaking of revolt to her already (arguably a 3rd, if the factions of District 2 were anything to go by), the smaller girl was definitely intrigued. There was far more afoot in Panem than a simple victory tour.


	44. Chapter 44: Reopened Wounds

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _The story nears an end, as Aveline's team enters the Capitol for one of the final legs of the tour. This brings back a lot of memories from Ava's victor crowning, and we see a few familiar faces that most of our heroes would probably be fine with never seeing again. On the other hand, the Capitol knows how to party, and this is common knowledge across Panem. How bad could it be?_

**CHAPTER 44: Reopened Wounds**

Ultimately District 11 had been a rather pleasant stop, and Ava left the place in fairly good spirits, falling asleep fairly soon as she mentally prepared for where the train would be taking her tomorrow. The Capitol—this would be Aveline's final stop in her victory tour before she went home and prepared in 6 months to mentor her first pair of tributes for the 92nd Hunger Games. Needless to say, the thought did not sit well with her, but there was nothing she could do at this point except hope that the other victors in Districts 2, 8, and 11 were working on something grand.

Unsurprisingly, Junichi seemed excited to be returning here, but there was one other stop to make afterwards—District 12. Ava would definitely not mind going home and hopefully shaking all of these concerns off of her. Anyone who was anyone knew that revolutionaries were often swiftly and brutally silenced, and those that could not be silenced without causing an uproar (such as victors), were usually just put through hell instead. Ava did not feel like she was ready for that.

Luckily, Junichi, Amadeus, and Celine were all there to take her mind off of it. Her outfit at this stop was unsurprisingly the most lavish and almost over-the-top, but that would fit right in with the Capitol fashion. By the time all was said in done, Ava was in a glittery coal-black gown with flowing sleeves and a large pair of feathers in her hair behind her ears. On the upper half of her face was an intricate mask that matched the outfit. Her makeup was surprisingly minimal, consisting only of black eyeshadow to match the color of the mask when her eyes were closed.

There was no speech to give in front of Capitol audiences the way there were in the twelve districts (for Ava would be giving a speech to District 12 after her stop in the Capitol), but there would be another interview that was practically a rehash of the one she had had shortly after winning the games. This time though, it would be slightly geared more towards the Victory Tour as well as an anticipation of one of the grandest celebrations a victor ever experienced.

Ava's interview setting was a bit different from what it had been after the games. The stage was glimmering red and gold with a large Capitol emblem in the center, and on either side was a large number 91. The black theme that she had carried repeatedly was not something lost on Ava. Black had been the color of choice for her parade costume, her pre-games dress, and even the color of the uniform for the games. Only her first victor's gown had been colored differently, and had been a striking shade of white. Perhaps there was symbolism to be found here, with the shite symbolizing new hope and beginning, and the black she was back wearing now serving as a reminder that nothing had really changed except that Aveline's life was now forever tied to the Capitol and to the trauma inflicted upon her in the 91st Hunger Games arena.

Dealing with the interview and program was just as difficult as it had been 6 months ago, however. Ava was forced to watch a recap of the games, and thus forced to watch her brother die gruesomely at Iris' hands. The Capitol did seem to take interest in the scene where Chel held Iris down and Ava pummeled her. The cameras got a disturbing close-up of Iris' defeated expression as she whimpered in fear of a slow and torturous death, and Ava clenched her fists.

"_Words cannot describe how much I FUCKING hate that girl"_ Ava seethed, doing everything in her power to keep from exploding in anger. _"She killed Wesley. How can I forgive that? And yet, how can I stay angry at someone who was just like me? I hate Iris because she makes me conflicted about everything… she killed my brother and yet for some reason I try to sympathize with her? What is WRONG with me?"_

Needless to say, this nearly made Ava's interview with Caesar rocky, but luckily she managed to keep the situation under control and also avoid saying anything that could spark the ire of President Snow or the Capitol. If there was one thing that victors like Paige, Leto, Haymitch, Alice, Sagittaria, Lyme, Clove, Vigo, Katniss, Enobaria, and the others were all doing right, it was that they were keeping their resentment of their oppressors on the down-low.

Thus, Ava jumped through the hoops and before she knew it, the crowds were cheering and chanting her name again. There was no President Snow to crown Ava the victor, as that had already happened, and so now this meant it was time to go right into the den of the beast itself—right into Coriolanus Snow's mansion for the Capitol celebration that every victor got to experience. Ava had mixed feelings about that, but she also knew that Snow did not make it a secret that he would openly express his disdain for people he did not like. She wondered if Vigo was one of these. She'd find out sooner or later.

Junichi was not as bubbly or airheaded as some of the other Capitol escorts, but frankly, that was just another reason that Ava liked her. The fact that she was also a martial artist that could hold her own against two Hunger Games victors had also made Ava's respect for the woman go through the roof.

"Chin up, and smile on," she chirped towards Ava as they approached the enormous mansion. To say that Ava was awestruck at the sheer magnitude of this residence might have been an understatement.

The party was even more extreme than the likes of District 11 or District 2, both of which were places that knew how to party hard. This was not too surprising to Ava though considering that this was the Capitol, and she couldn't help but help herself to all kinds of different food while she was here. She had initially been a bit hesitant, but Vigo gave her a reminder of Capitol decadence that had Ava change her mind about it.

"It's probably all going to go to waste either way," he pointed out, "so you might as well enjoy it… maybe throw some of it up and eat again if you think you can handle it."  
Ava, like so many others had heard of this stuff, but to see it in person was so different.

"I'll never understand this sickening decadence," she shook her head,

"Me neither," Vigo replied, "Although if it's any consolation, my mentor nearly killed herself with that stuff during my tour."  
"Your mentor…" Ava tilted her head, "Katniss? I thought she hated this kind of stuff!"

"She does," Vigo laughed, "well, she used to hate alcohol but I think Haymitch corrected her pretty quickly. This stuff… well, she got mad about something, and so she chugged this stuff. Don't ever do anything like that, you hear?"  
"Why not?" Ava tilted her head, glancing back at the green liquid in the vial in her hand,

"Ava, I tell you this because I care about you." Vigo warned, "Just don't do it. Let me put it this way: When Katniss chugged it, she vomited so bad that she started hacking up blood."  
"Blood!?" Ava gawked, "how do these people handle this stuff?"  
"Well," Vigo couldn't help but chuckle, "in Katniss' case, we're talking about 14 vials of this stuff poured into a glass though. One or two shots won't kill you."

"What was she thinking?" Ava shook her head,

"She wasn't," Vigo chuckled. "That's about all I can say about it that I understand anyways."

"So are you sure this stuff's safe?" Ava turned to her mentor.

"Alcohol won't kill you either; doesn't mean it's good for you." Vigo quipped, "But the Capitol isn't going to set out poison to try and kill its own people—not this publicly anyways. Snow doesn't work like that."

"Welp," Ava popped the top off of the small vial, "May the odds be ever in my favor."  
Similar to how she handled alcohol, the 91st Hunger Games victor found herself quite displeased with the sensation this liquid gave her—or rather, the feeling of her stomach ejecting its contents at high velocities via her throat. Vomiting was never fun.

However, there was something else that brightened her mood a little by the time she had washed out her mouth and returned to the party. She found Vigo shouting at Junichi over something, and based on the dialogue, it was something about her.

"HA!" Vigo pointed at Junichi's face, "HA! I TOLD YOU SO! I told you she'd do it!"

Junichi was rather stoic, before cracking a smile. "I'm a woman of my word," she reached into her purse and a few moments later some money exchanged hands, "you're a terrible person for betting on your little tribute like that though, Vigo."

"Little tribute?" Ava stepped in, deciding to provide the evening with a little of her own snark 'n dry wit. "The proper term is 'victor', if I recall correctly."

She paused, turning to her mentor. "Also… you're an ass, Vigo. If I had known you were betting on me I'd have purposely done the opposite."  
"You'd take her side?" Vigo gawked slightly, "the rich Capitol lady whose net worth is already 7 times that of the entirety of District 12?"  
"Is this true, Junichi?" Ava tilted her head, fully aware that it might be, but even then she did not see Junichi as the greedy type.

"I have money saved away should Vigo ever win it back," Junichi explained, "but Vigo is the one who bets against me, not the other way around."  
"Vigo?" Ava tilted her head, as if to ask him about it, but he was silent. Ava turned to see what had silenced him so abruptly, and she and Junichi froze up and fell silent for the same reason.

President Snow had found them, and was coming their way.


	45. Chapter 45: The Return to District 12

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _And thus concludes the thrilling saga of the 91st Annual Hunger Games. We got to watch Aveline Lelani Togisala transform from a small but strong-willed little girl into a wiser, more mature and also more traumatized veteran of a young woman, but now her story has come to an end for the time being... at least until next year. There might be one epilogue chapter posted here, but otherwise, this story is now complete. Thank you for all of those who read and enjoyed this story. Those who wish to see how well Aveline's first pair of tributes fare in the next Hunger Games should watch for my upcoming sequel "The 92nd Annual Hunger Games", which will also bring another district into focus. Otherwise, enjoy Aveline's return home, her eulogy for her dearly departed brother, and the bond shared between the four living victors of District 12. Thank you for reading._

**CHAPTER 45: The Return to District 12**

Ava mentally braced herself for another direct encounter with the most powerful and dangerous man in Panem. She tensed up, and tried taking a deep breath to act natural. Vigo also froze, and to Ava's surprise, so did Junichi.

However, it did not turn out nearly as bad as she had hoped—at least not on the outside.  
"Good evening, Ms. Togisala," the man took his polite tone again. For someone in his 90s, he was still very functional, perhaps due to Capitol technology or something.

"Good evening, President Snow," Ava managed to utter in response. To her surprise, Snow smiled.

"There is some proper courtesy," he indicated, "Are you enjoying your evening?"  
"Aye," Ava nodded, not wanting to say otherwise, "It is wonderful."  
Whether or not this was forced did not seem to bother the president. Instead, he simply continued speaking to Aveline.

"I am glad you are enjoying it," he smiled at her again; "this is all being done for and because of you. I always repay people with exactly what they deserve. You have been rewarded accordingly."

"Thank you," Ava nodded mechanically.

"Have a good evening," he gave her a passing gesture before turning to the others. "Vigo; Junichi."

Incidentally, there was no further trouble or incident with Snow after this encounter, much to Ava's relief. By the end of the night, she felt relieved to know that she would be going home. There would be no more Hunger Games for her—at least for another 6 months when she was forced to return as District 12's newest mentor. She was not too worried about that though. She could get tips from Vigo, and Junichi would be with her, for the woman was definitely not going to leave the District 12 scene any time soon. This pleased Ava, who felt like that woman was able to very strongly connect with the tributes she met each year.

On the other hand, as she boarded the train for District 12, Ava could not help but worry about the speech she would be giving tomorrow. Every victor ended his or her tour with a eulogy for their district partner, which for Ava meant that she would see her mother on the stage across form her, with an image of Wesley behind her. She was not worried about saying anything controversial—she was worried that she was going to break down crying.

This fear and nervousness showed very clearly the next morning as Amadeus and Celine styled Ava for the last time for 6 months. They reminded her of this.

"It'll be 6 more months till we get to work with you again," Celine sighed, "but when you come back we can style you up again!"  
"You can?" Ava tilted her head curiously, wondering how this was the case if she was not another tribute. Not ever wearing fancy clothes was a price Ava would gladly pay to never have to suffer in the arena ever again. Like with every other victor, it had left wounds on Aveline Togisala that would not ever heal. Victors were truly condemned to live as misunderstood outcasts that none but fellow victors would ever truly understand.

"Of course we can," Amadeus beamed, as they dressed Ava in a dark grey dress that was kept fairly simple. Ava did not even need to ask the symbolism here.

"How so?" she asked as they began to work on her makeup.

"You'll be a mentor now," Celine reminded her, "your job once your tributes are in the arena will be to decide when and where they receive their sponsor gifts. You can also attempt to try and line up sponsors, although your escort also helps you there. We come in in order to make you look presentable. Sponsors are not going to want to support someone who does not look appealing to them. That applies not only for tributes, but also mentors."

Ava simply nodded understandingly with an "ah", for she did not wish to discuss the vile brutality of the games themselves with a pair of individuals who were so oblivious to the true horrors it held. Instead she let them finish styling her up, and sure enough, just like last time, it was not long after they had finished that they pulled into District 12. They disembarked just as they had in the other districts and the Capitol, except that this one was different even than District 2 or District 11.

Ava actually cringed from how loud the cheering was. Ever since the arena, particularly that final day, she had been somewhat aversive to noises, but if there was one noise that would trigger a phobia, it was any kind of hissing—similar to what that humanoid monster had done in the arena. Thankfully there was none of that.

In fine, District 12 was elated to have another victor join their small ranks. Her name was being chanted across the square, and as Ava approached the podium, she saw two things: behind the stage in front of the Justice Building was an image of her face with a banner reading "VICTOR" beneath it, and on either side of that were two more ornate black and silver banners with the words "VICTORY TOUR" printed vertically on them, and at the top, a Capitol seal and the number 91. Across from that was the sight Ava dreaded seeing, as it made her eyes water before she even stepped up to the podium.

It was surely a bittersweet moment for Naisha Togisala. On one hand, she was standing in front of the face of her 1st child, who had been killed that year; and on the other hand, she was gazing across the square at her 2nd child, who had emerged from the 'games as a victor.

Ava did not even attempt to go generic at all on this one. This was literally as personal as it could get.

"As many of you know…" Ava began, "Wesley was my older brother. We had our disagreements, like any other siblings might have… but at the end of the day, we were best friends. He was always there for me. Wesley would always protect his baby sister…" Already Ava's eyes were watering as her mind was flooded with hundreds of memories of her and Wes back during their childhood. Life in District 12 had never been the most stellar way of living, but they had always made the best of their situation.

Such was the nature of Ava's speech as it went on, and Ava grew shakier as she progressed, finally losing it after mentioning that they had sworn to protect each other once they were thrown into the arena, only for him to be brutally slaughtered in the bloodbath by a vicious 14-year-old girl that was so engrossed in the Hunger Games mindset that she had been turned into a ruthless murderer. While Ava and even Chel bad both killed more tributes than her (Ava had actually killed more tributes than anyone else), it was the girl's vicious mindset that set her apart, and the violent way that she had killed Wes was something that Ava simply could not forgive.

This was probably easily the longest and most heartfelt eulogy ever given for a tribute who had died in the bloodbath. Ava feared that Wesley's name would be easily forgotten even if hers became something of legend: A low-scoring tribute who had defied all odds and won the games, killing a total of 7 tributes in the process (even if one had been a mercy-kill). Wes had not had the chance to do any of that, and was slain in the opening minutes the same way hundreds of other boys and girls had been.

By the time Ava concluded her speech, she had to practically be escorted from the stage from how violently she was sobbing. The people of District 12 felt her pain even if they could not fully understand it—for there were only three other people that could.

Incidentally, one of these showed up once they had reached where the evening's feast and festivities would be (another excuse for the Capitol to flaunt their "benevolence", Ava was sure). However, instead of Vigo or Katniss, it was a much older man with a stagger in his step and a powerful stench of alcohol emanating from his person—this was Haymitch Abernathy.

"Nice speech, kid." He grunted in approval, "Sorry about your brother."

"There's nothing that can be done about it now," Ava sighed and shook her head, "He's gone."

"That's an unfortunate truth," Haymitch grumbled in agreement, "but you know what, kid? You remind me of someone..."  
"Katniss?" For some reason that was the first name that came to her head.

"Nah… the kid I'm thinking of had your name," Haymitch explained, "Kyla Joanna Togisala. The two of you had a similar story—both of you were reaped into your games alongside an older brother who died in the bloodbath. Both of you scored very low in training—and both of you proved to be some of the most lethal killers that Panem ever saw. No one remembers Kyla's brother's name though, because he was useless. As for Kyla… the generation that knew her has come and passed."  
"How popular was Kyla?" Ava asked,

"The kid was a legend," Haymitch answered, "even the career districts respected her. She was one of the most legendary fallen tributes in the history of the games. I'm sure your friend Chel has joined her by now."

Ava had mixed feelings about this—it was typical Haymitch to just spill and ramble what was on his mind with impunity given his almost perpetual intoxication, but his words were interesting. Would Chel become a legend, just as this Kyla Togsiala had been? On the other hand, did that mean Wesley was confined to the same unremarkable and forgettable fate that Kyla's useless brother had been given?

"Why are you telling me this?" Ava tilted her head, "and what else do you remember about this Kyla?"

"I'm telling you this because you can save your brother's memory," Haymitch indicated, "that Sagittaria girl from '11 isn't the only story keeper around Panem. Kyla was in the 'games the same year as Sagittaria—so obviously she died. You're alive… you can preserve your brother's legacy."

Ava cracked a smile. Haymitch was not much, especially not in his later years, but the man had some profound wisdom that sometimes showed through his smelly and unkempt figure.

"Kyla's mother was named Lelani." He also added, "If that means anything to ya."

"Lelani!?" Ava's eyes widened. She had been related to this Kyla girl then. "That's my grandmother's sister! I was named after her!"

Haymitch cracked a rare smile. "Good for you, kid…" he patted Ava's shoulder. "good for you…"

Ava's spirits managed to return to a pleasant high as the evening wore on, and before she knew it, she was saying goodbye to Junichi, Amadeus, and Celine, all of whom were on the receiving end of fond embraces from Ava's end. Bittersweet as it might have been, Ava knew they'd see each other in 6 months' time.

Perhaps by careful coordination, or maybe just bizarre chance, the four living victors of District 12 all made their way back to the Victor Village together. They were a close-knit group, but on the other hand, those who had visited District 12 knew that it was a rather close-knit place given its size. None of these victors said a single word to each other (and all of them, including Ava, were slightly tipsy), and yet there was a feeling of mutual understanding between them—a powerful bond forged through experiencing the horrors that were the Hunger Games. While none of them had succeeded in ending the Hunger Games, they were all fairly confident that they had helped set a few things in motion…


	46. Epilogue--Chapter 46: Family Matters

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _I know that I finished this fanfic months ago, and that it stood well enough alone with the existing 45 chapters, but as I read and re-read it, I felt like something else was missing. Perhaps I just wanted to feel a smoother transition into the sequel to make the series blend a bit better together, or perhaps I just wanted to show a bit of closure on Aveline's feelings after winning the games before she goes and mentors tributes for the following year. Either way, this was one of the results. Depending on how well-received this story portion is, I would be willing to post as many epilogue chapters as people would like to see. Whatever the case, here's a bit of Ava's life between Hunger Games. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it._  
_Happy Reading!_

**PART IV: EPILOGUE—LIFE BACK HOME**

**CHAPTER 46: Family Matters**

Six months was a period of time that could either feel like forever or that could slip through your fingers before you knew what had happened. For Aveline, it oddly fell somewhere between the two categories. The countdown to the 92nd Annual Hunger Games drew closer slowly but surely, filling Ava with a sense of slight dread. On the other hand, it seemed like only yesterday that she had toured Panem—and had learned of the rebellious conspiracies in District 8, learned the secrets of District 2, and had encountered President Snow in the heart of the Capitol. In a few months, Ava would become a mentor.

This was not the first time that she had worried about this, and while her mother tried to help, she also knew that she had not experienced what her daughter had, and that her understanding was therefore limited. On the other hand, Ava still deeply appreciated a mother's love, and so the two remaining Togisalas stayed close in their relationship.

It was sometime after midnight this time when a bloodcurdling scream filled the air, and there was a large thump against the door of Aveline's bedroom as a knife lodged itself in the wood.

Maybe it was her motherly instinct, but Naisha Togisala's eyes popped open immediately upon hearing that scream. She recognized her daughter's voice anywhere.

"Vigo! Vigo! VIGO!" Ava began shrieking, and her normally tiny footsteps thundered through the house as she scrambled in a panicked frenzy. Naisha managed to intercept her before she made it out the door, and surprisingly, despite a bit of struggling initially, Naisha's familiar touches calmed Ava down, since the small teen was not all there at the moment. Clutching Ava around her torso, Naisha held her daughter closely, calming down as Ava stopped panicking and the only noise from the victor's mansion was Aveline's frenzied breathing.

"Mama…" Ava whimpered, putting her arms tightly around Naisha's waist in return. Naisha ran her hands through Ava's hair, humming softly. It was a song that Ava recognized from her childhood that was commonly sung in District 12. She recognized the words as verse two of four:

_Are you, are you… coming to the tree_

_A dead man called out for his love to flee._

_Strange things have happened here; no stranger would it be…_

_If we met at midnight in the hanging tree;_

Aveline quieted down as she listened to the song, and her mother sang the remaining verses in various order before softly humming in instead, her hands still in her daughter's hair. By this point, Ava realized that it was only a horrifying nightmare, and was now fully awake, realizing where she was. She was not watching Cress torturing her mother or Iris rampaging through District 12 riding on the back of the giant phoenix mutt, which was spewing fire and incinerating the entire place. She was safely in her mother's arms surrounded by the comfort of her home's four walls, and the 91st Hunger Games were several months behind her.

"Another nightmare, Aveline?" Naisha asked softly, still gently running her fingers through her little daughter's hair, "you were in quite the frenzy a moment ago…"  
Ava simply whimpered and nodded, her eyes still watery. "It was horrible…" she cried, and launched seconds later into a frighteningly detailed description of the events that transpired in this dream. Even Naisha was a bit horrified at how much information Ava gave, and she held her daughter tightly, as the smaller young woman began trembling.

"How am I going to do this, mama," she whimpered, "I'm not sure that I could handle seeing another arena, even if I'm just watching form the sidelines. What if someone else I know gets picked for the games next year? What if I have to watch another friend die?"  
"Do what you need to then, to ensure that they know how to survive, just as you did." Naisha suggested, "I cannot say that I know as much about the games as you do, but let me always promise you that I will be here for you any time you need me. This mansion is yours, Aveline. We live here because of you; not because of me."  
"I know…" Ava sighed, "It's just… I wish papa could have seen it… or at least Wesley. He didn't deserve to die, mama. He was the one that deserved to come home."

Naisha had to loosen Ava's grip on her shoulders, for the tiny girl was starting to dig her fingers into Naisha's arms. "But here you are," she whispered, "and unfortunately, wishing him back will not bring him back. He would be proud of you if he were here though—both he and your father would be."  
"And I wish both of them could have seen it," Ava complained, "the same year… what are the odds that both of us would get picked the same year? I think he could have survived if Iris had not killed him to get back at me for killing Cress."  
"And what if you hadn't killed that boy," Naisha chipped in, "he may have killed you—and then I would have no children to show for myself."

Ava sighed, and Naisha continued to hold her lovingly.

"Have I ever told you about my cousin Kyla, sweetie?" Naisha asked.

"I heard vaguely about her from Haymitch during the Harvest Festival after my tour…" Ava admitted, "But she slipped my mind after that. What happened?"  
"She was a distant relative of yours," Naisha began, "because she was a legend in all ways but one. She was the female tribute from District 12 during the 44th Hunger Games."

"44?" Ava tilted her head, "that's the year that District 11 girl won—Sagittaria, right?"  
"The very same," Naisha nodded, "my mother would show me that girl's victory speech in District 12 to remind me of who Kyla was—because despite that Sagittaria girl winning, Kyla was the one that people of my day remembered just as well as the victor. Her story is similar to yours—and Lelani's is similar to mine, only with a sadder ending."  
Ava was silent, as if she knew what Naisha would say next.

"Kyla was reaped alongside her older brother for the 44th Annual Hunger Games. Naisha continued, "and much like Wesley, he died in the bloodbath." She purposely left out the fact that his name was forgotten—as she did not want to think that that would become Wesley's fate.

"However… Kyla was not one to give up in the face of adversity." Naisha smiled. "She was a fighter—a ruthless one at that. She joined up with Rye and Sagittaria from District 11 and together they made quick work of most of the others. She fell, however, to a girl from District 2 by the name of Alexis Alewine—the same girl that had killed her brother."

"Iris…" Ava muttered under her breath. "So why do people remember her?"  
"She used to be a lot better remembered, actually," Naisha admitted, "but as that generation ages, new heroes take the place of the old. We do not remember nearly any of the rebellious heroes that tried to wrench our country free of the Capitol's grasp, but perhaps one day, another one will rise."  
Ava smiled. "That I'm almost certain of—they can't contain us much longer, mother. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think '8 or '13 will start the next war—it's going to be '12."

"Perhaps so," Naisha chuckled, glad to see her daughter smiling again, "but as for Kyla, she was remembered because she stuck with it till the end—she slew more tributes than even the victor and her partner did. And, in a rush of vengeance, right as Alexis had impaled her, she decapitated that girl, killing her before she could fully die."  
She paused. "I hope it doesn't make you uncomfortable, Ava…" she asked aloud, "My understanding of living those games is nothing compared to what you've been through. I just want to be supportive when I can be. I hope I am not doing the opposite."  
"I should be alright," Ava swallowed hard, "it's just tough sometimes… especially when I have nightmares like this. This will hopefully become less common."  
"Fair enough," Naisha ruffled Ava's hair with a smile, "so… do you think you're ready for bed again, or did you want to stay up?"  
"I think I might stay up a little longer," Ava nodded, "maybe watch some TV or something—you can go to bed though, mama."

"Alright…" Naisha gave Ava a motherly little kiss and a hug. "Goodnight, Aveline."  
"Goodnight, mama," Ava returned the gestures, before returning to her room, closing the door. She glanced briefly at its knife-riddled surface, with scars and pockmarks from where Ava panickingly threw knives at it when she woke up from a nightmare.

She turned on the Hunger Games a moment later, flipping back to the 44th Hunger Games to watch the footage of this Kyla Togisala.

There was definitely family resemblance. Kyla was a scrawny and malnourished little thing that had a clearl speaking problem, using somewhat slurred words and broken sentences, but her gestures and remarks were still clear enough to enable communication with her allies.

It was also a bit intriguing to see the golden-tongued Sagittaria as a young girl Ava's age, (for Sagittaria Svenja's information page indicated that she had won her games when she was 16 years old) and she got to see Rye Grove, the boy she had fallen in love with.

Kyla though—Kyla reminded Ava of herself in so many most kids from District 12, she was swarthy, slightly unkempt little girl with a mop of dark hair and brown eyes. She was well-acquainted with hunger it seemed, given her scrawny frame, although Ava was now curious about why the girl's speech was so broken.

Perhaps what intrigued Ava the most about her though, was that Naisha had not been lying. That Alexis girl had impaled Kyla with a spear, raising her off the ground. Kyla's grip on her axes had not faltered, however, and with one last breath, she had slashed at Alexis and nearly decapitated her, with her head hanging on by only a few inches of skin and muscle—killing her instantly. She managed to remain alive was Rye and Sagittaria finished off the other two careers, where she gave them a District 12 salute before finally passing.

However, the next part also reminded Ava strongly of her games. With the careers gone, it left just Rye and Sagittaria, where they decided who had to kill who with a simple coin toss (for Sagittaria's tribute token had been a beat-up old coin from a bygone age). Sagittaria was thus fated to kill Rye and end the games, something she did with great emotional pain showing in her visage. Even Ava cringed as the scene unfolded, but soon, the games had ended, and she was crowned the victor.

Seeing these game highlights had a simple but profound effect on the little 91st victor—she was grateful now, for having such a strong ally in the games; and in a way was glad that it had not come down to her and Wes for the final two. She would not have been able to kill her own brother, and knew that he would have been just as stubborn as she was about it. Here she was, alive and well, and able to continue doing what she had always done. Kyla might have been a key in Sagittaria's victory (most victors did not win by themselves, after all), and Ava had a counterpart like that in Chel Colorado. Theirs was a most unusual relationship, given the nature of District 2 versus District 12, but their friendship and loyalty had been genuine and unwavering. Even to this day Ava looked back at killing Chel as the single hardest thing she had ever had to do. She would have happily taken fighting the phoenix mutt thousands of feet in the air over having to put her dying friend out of her misery.

She sighed, glancing over to the wall at where 'Bridget' the battleaxe lay, leaning against the dresser where Chel's necklace rested. A part of her fought back tears to keep from crying over the loss of such a beloved friend, but Ava managed to keep it together, especially since her eyes were still a bit red from earlier with Naisha.

"_Thank you Chel…"_ Ava whispered with a sigh, "_I owe you more than I could ever begin to dream of repaying you…"_

Aveline was not sure when she finally fell asleep, but she managed to wake up later that day feeling much more relieved and refreshed. The nightmares would not likely ever leave her, but she knew that she still had friends and support—and sometimes, that was all a traumatized victor needed.


	47. Epilogue--Chapter 47: Fading Memories

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _so there will be at least 48 chapters as of this one, since there is one more that needs to happen. This one kind of came out of the blue in a way, but whatever the case, here it is. Also... we get to learn about a certain someone that Clove mentioned in her own (74th) Hunger Games. Yes, I really just made an OC related to a canon character-no, she is not a self-insert/primary focus/Mary Sue/whatever. Learning who she is can be done by reading the chapter._  
_Happy Reading!_

**CHAPTER 47: Fading Memories**

Life in District 12 did not change a whole lot between the different Hunger Games. Workers went back to the mines, and the occasional rebellious kid or adult slipped through the numerous 'cracks' (they were more like gaps) in the fence to hunt game. Now and again a Peacekeeper would crack down, but they mostly cooperated, knowing that the resilient citizens of District 12 were more than happy to cooperate in return—and were some of the best providers of the good stuff.

It was an interesting and peculiar relationship that citizens in other rebellious districts like '8 and '11 did not quite understand, but even Aveline was used to it. However, it did not prevent her from getting stopped one day on her way back from The Hob by a certain Peacekeeper. She had just entered the Victor Village gate when she heard someone command her to stop.

Ava raised her empty hands in the air to show that she was not resisting. "What do you need, officer?"

"Aveline Lelani Togisala," the Peacekeeper, clearly female if her voice was anything to go by, "I need you to follow me."  
"Am I being detained?" she asked, but the Peacekeeper did not answer. It was not like the people of the districts could fight back against the Capitol Peacekeepers in any sort of fair manner, but Aveline knew that she was different from most citizens. Unlike in most cases, Peacekeepers were not allowed to just drag victors behind buildings and shoot them like they technically could with other citizens (although this was a rare practice, considering the riots that followed), but on the other hand, Ava knew she had done nothing wrong this time, and so she'd see where this went.

The Peacekeeper led Ava to what appeared to be the barracks where some of them were housed, and the little victor was unfazed. She was barely 16 years old at this point, and memories of her Hunger Games were still fairly fresh on her mind. She had seen fears and horrors that only 90 other people in all of Panem's history ever understood. If Peacekeepers were going to shoot her, she knew it would be quick. There was no way they were going to frighten her.

"What can I do for you, officer?" she repeated once she was ushered inside.

"In truth…" the Peacekeeper sat down, crossing her legs as she closed the door. "I just want to talk."  
She removed her helmet, and Ava actually raised her eyebrows for a second as she saw who it was. She bore a striking resemblance to Clove Kazera from District 2.

"Clove?" she gawked.

"Chive," the woman explained, "However… Clove *is* my younger sister. Did she say nothing of me when you stopped in District 2?"

"She didn't," Ava shrugged, "is that what this is about?"  
"It is," Chive chuckled, "sorry if I gave you a scare out there."

"It'd take a lot more to scare me than dragging me out behind the shop to put a bullet through my head," Ava quipped with her deadpan humor, "so what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you in person," Chive admitted, "The last time Clove and I talked in person was before your victory in the games. We don't get much contact nowadays."  
"How long have you been a Peacekeeper?" Ava asked,

"18 years," Chive answered, "I left a couple years before Clove went and volunteered for the 'games, and the minimum commitment is 20 years."  
"And will you be going home after that?"  
"I'm not sure. On one hand I do think my baby sister deserves some company after all her time being alone, but on the other hand, District 12 kind of grows on you."

"I'll drink to that," Ava chuckled, "but if you're asking about Clove… she's doing fine. She was a bit aggressive when we met, and she's on drugs now, but otherwise, she seems like a fairly decent person."

"Ah…" Chive nodded, "Poor kid…" There was a clear fondness in her tone, which made it remain apparent that she and Clove had had a big-sister-little-sister relationship for years before Chive had gone off to become a Peacekeeper and Clove had gone and won the 74th Hunger Games.

"But now here's one for you—if you know anything about it."  
"Shoot," she shrugged, "most of what I've seen in your lifetime is simply more of District 12. My breaks to go back home and see family back in '2 were few and in-between."  
"I'm just wondering if you knew anything about Chel Colorado before the games." Ava explained, "She… well, you've seen the footage. She was my best friend—ever.

"I saw her a few times at the training academies," Chive admitted, "but I didn't know much about her. She rubbed others nicely—I recall her being extremely popular for a youngster."

"Chel was amazing," Ava sighed, "truly amazing in pretty much every way conceivable. I… thanks, Chive. It might not seem like much—but it's one way to calm a victor down."  
"Hey," Chive quipped, "if there's one thing that kid reminded me of—she reminded me that not all of us in District 2 hate the outlying and rebellious districts. Even we Peacekeepers come from the districts after all. There are some like the careers that are overzealous, but to each their own."  
This was news to Ava, who otherwise remained silent in thought for a moment as she thought about this. She had been told this by Chel regarding District 2, and now to hear it from the a Capitol Peacekeeper made her think twice. On the other hand, she thought of what she had told her mother a few times regarding the breakup of Panem—if it ever happened, it would start this time in District 12.

"I like that," Ava nodded approvingly, "Thank you for stopping me, Chive Kazera. Now… am I dismissed?"  
She asked this in a much friendlier tone than she had when she had first been pulled aside, as if to play along with standard protocol.

"You are dismissed," Chive put her helmet back on and the two of them stepped back outside, shook hands, and parted ways.

Ava was deep in thought as she walked home that afternoon. She knew that despite the district's overall loyalty to the Capitol, that there were plenty who defected from that mentality, but she did not know that such things also happened in the ranks of the Peacekeepers, even if that was much rarer. Ava figured that they would have to watch themselves extra closely to make sure they were not noticed—for that would surely cost them their job and probably their lives.

Later that evening, the power went out for most of the district—a common occurrence that the citizenry was rather used to. However, this was also a surefire sign that a couple of the victors were going out hunting. It went unsaid that anytime the lights in District 12 went out, Katniss and Aveline grabbed their coats and headed into the woods beyond the fence. Sometimes they hunted, and other times they simply enjoyed the peace and quiet away from the rest of the world.

This time proved to be one of the latter. Katniss slipped silently through the fence with Ava right behind her, and they crept through the woods until they came across a large tree that they were well-acquainted with.

"Strange things did happen here…" Katniss murmured, glancing up at the large oak as she placed her hand on the trunk.

"No stranger would it be…" Ava continued, "If we met at midnight…"  
"…in the hanging tree" Katniss finished as the two women began climbing up and disappearing into the thick leaves and branches. They continued their ascent until they were peeking out near the top. The view they were presented with was serene and magnificent, with a clear night sky devoid of any lights from Capitol hovercraft, or any of the dim lights of the fence or the district.

"Katniss," Ava began,

"What is it?" the older girl asked.

"What draws you here?" she asked curiously, "I've asked it a few times, I know, but I'm just curious."

"I like being by myself," Katniss sighed, "and I guess I just connect a bit better with you than I do with Vigo. He's a great guy and all—but he's not the one that's willing to jump the fence with me."  
"I like Vigo," Ava admitted, "A lot, actually."  
"He's got a level head on his shoulders," Katniss agreed, "and he's only 7 years your elder."

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing," Katniss nodded, "just that he's more your age—easier for you to relate to—that sort of thing. Haymitch is getting too old, and then there's me."  
"Hey now… we're not about to leave you behind just cuz you're getting older," Ava assured her, "or Haymitch. We're sticking together."  
"The other victors are pretty much the only friends I have, you know." Katniss noted. "I don't even need to ask anyone to realize I've got no charisma."

"But you've got passion," Ava reminded her, "I saw it when I watched your games a few weeks ago—and I've seen it before around the district. There's still a fire inside you—Girl on Fire."

"I've made my mistakes," Katniss confessed, "but I'm at least proud of a few. Ask Vigo the next time you see him—he'll know what I'm saying."  
"Katniss?" Ava turned to the older victor.

"What's wrong?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing," Ava nodded, "Just… thanks. There are a small handful of people that have helped me dramatically, especially in this difficult time of my life, and I just wanted to let you know that you're one of them. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Katniss nodded. "I might not be a very good advice giver… but I'm here to help you—just as you've helped me."  
Ava smiled, although as they went home that night, it had her thinking. Something about Katniss' words struck her a certain way, and she suddenly had this theory that she was more indebted to Katniss than she actually realized…


	48. Epilogue--Chapter 48: Friendships

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _And this is likely the end of the epilogue, as we have a slow lead-in to the 92nd Annual Hunger Games. We get to see a brief cameo of a couple of special someones, and we get to see Ava's relationship with Vigo. Don't worry-whatever that relationship is, there's still plenty of development it needs to do before it gets anywhere. Anyhoo, thanks to everyone who read it all._  
_Happy Reading!_

**CHAPTER 48: Friends and Friendships**

As the 92nd Annual Hunger Games began to draw nearer, Ava found herself with only one other minor insecurity that did not already exist before—she wondered what it would be like as a mentor. Usually only the rich and well-off districts like 2, 5, and 1 ever had more than one mentor at a time (two, in all three cases), and so she knew that Vigo would not be following her to the Capitol to train tributes.

She passed a pair of twins scampering through the district on her way back home. Oddly, they looked older than her (and large, but Ava was still a very tiny woman).

"Hurry up, Monica—they'll catch you." One of them called out  
"We're not even doing anything bad, Moneta," the other reminded her as they whizzed past Aveline. "No one's going to catch us for anything."  
Ava continued home without incident, although instead of turning to go to her own house, she stopped a little earlier and made her way to Vigo's front door and knocked.

"It's Ava," she called out a moment later. Most of the victors, including Aveline, would not open their doors to just anyone. Katniss was particularly picky about this, and even Vigo would not often open his door except to another victor (or to Ms. Everdeen or Ms. Togisala when they occasionally dropped by). No one else in the district dared or bothered to go to Haymitch's house, and so the other victors were quite fine with just walking right in.

Vigo opened the door and greeted Aveline with an arm around the shoulder.

"What brings you my way," Vigo asked as they walked into the living room. Ava always stared in amazement at Vigo's living room, which was adorned with large collections of beautifully painted works. Many of them were somewhat graphic, but Vigo's artistic talent showed. Ava remembered seeing some of his simpler works while the man had sketched during the train ride to the Capitol.

"I just had a couple of questions," Ava sat down, "about mentoring."  
"Ah…" Vigo nodded, looking around the room for a moment, "I was wondering when you'd finally pluck up the courage to ask me that. At least you weren't me having to knock on Katniss' door."

"Oh, Katniss is not that bad," Ava chuckled as Vigo sat down next to her, "she's just shy."  
"More like anti-social," Vigo corrected her, "but I know she's a good person at heart."  
She paused, remembering something that Katniss had told her in the woods a few days prior.

"That reminds me," Ava's eyes met Vigo's for a moment, "she told me the other day to ask you about something."  
"Well what did she tell you to ask me about?" Vigo quipped, brushing some of his long hair out of his face with one hand, while reaching into his pocket with his other.

"She mentioned something about moments she was proud of." Ava explained, "I don't think I've ever recalled anything that Katniss has shown pride about."  
"I think I know what she's talking about," Vigo began, "let's watch a little TV for a moment, shall we?"  
He flipped on the large television in front of them, scrolling through past Hunger Games footage until he reached the 75th Hunger Games—the 3rd Quarter Quell, which Katniss had won. Instead of taking her to the games, however, he started all the way back at the reapings.

Ava got to watch a pair of tributes from District 11 get reaped ("it was close enough; to hell with precision", Vigo reasoned) before District 12 showed up. The then-escort Effie Trinket had read the rule-change of the games once again before pulling a name out of the large glass bowl.

"_Naisha Togisala!"_

Ava was awestruck. She saw a much younger version of her mother being escorted to the stage. She barely managed to hand off a small baby boy to one of the other women in the ranks. Given the shape of her belly at the time, it was clear that Naish had been pregnant—and Ava knew who it was.

"That's mama!" she gasped, right as Katniss' hand shot up, and she shouted her offer to volunteer. Heads turned her way, and she repeated herself, stepping up in place of Naisha Togisala, who was sobbing hysterically with gratitude for Katniss' deed.

"She might have very well saved your life that day," Vigo noted, "I don't exactly know how well your mother would have fought, so don't take offense at it."

Ava was still awed by this fact. How had she never realized that her mother had nearly been reaped for the 75th Annual Hunger Games? The little boy she had been holding had clearly been Wes, which meant that Naisha had definitely been pregnant with Ava during the following year.

On the other hand, seeing baby Wesley did make Ava a little teary-eyed, and she clung slightly to Vigo.

"I miss him, Vigo…" she whimpered, "Hardly a day goes by that I don't think about him."

"The Hunger Games are one of those things that will never stop haunting you, Ava," Vigo noted, "It took me months before I could swallow that aspect, and it might take you longer than that—or maybe less. I'm not entirely sure, given that it affects different people in different ways."

"And so how does that translate into mentoring?" Ava asked, deciding to try and shift the subject.

"Well, for one thing, be sure to put any tributes that backtalk you into place. It doesn't happen too often here in '12, but every mentor sees at least one or two of them in their career—depending on the length of said career."

"What's important to know," Vigo continued, "is that no one understands that you've been through—not even me. Fellow victors can understand the very notion of seeing friends and sometimes even loved ones getting killed in the games, but no one else has actually *been* there. No one has been inside the 91st arena and lived to tell the tale of it except you. The same goes with me and the 84th arena, or Katniss and the 75th arena. You tell those kids that they will never leave the arena—there is no getting off that train."  
"But that just sounds discouraging," Ava frowned. "Wouldn't those be the types of things you would want to warn them after the fact?"  
"I suppose it depends on if you believe in fates worse than death," Vigo admitted, "but otherwise, I suppose you have a point. Obviously we want to bring home as many people from District 12 as possible, but let's not get them thinking that you win the games and suddenly you're living happily ever after. It's never that simple, and sadly, has never worked that way."

Ava nodded to acknowledge what was said, but then fell silent again.

"Mentoring is not nearly as hard as it sounds, Ava," Vigo explained, "it's simply a matter of teaching those tributes everything you can, and then the rest of it falls out of your hands. Hopefully you get skilled and promising tributes from here on out. Luckily Junichi is a fairly encouraging force too."  
"Junichi is amazing," Ava smiled, "She is a wonderful person and I love her."

"Me too," Vigo chuckled, squeezing Ava's shoulder, "me too."  
It was at this moment that Ava glanced back at Vigo, and maybe it was simply all the times they had bonded in the Victor Village during the last 9 months since the 91st Hunger Games, or maybe it was the fact that Aveline was a bit older now, but she realized that Vigo himself was rather attractive.

"So here's another question," Ava asked, "although maybe it's a bit personal…"  
"For you, Ava," Vigo smiled, "sunshine and rainbows. I don't think I could hide anything from you if I wanted to. What is it?"

"Well…" Ava was a little shy, knowing that with their age difference (23 and 16), it could potentially be awkward territory she was venturing into—or could be touching upon some of a victor's unseen nightmares that they knew better than even to ask each other about. "Is there a reason you're still single? I mean… don't take this the wrong way or anything—but you're really kinda… erm… cute."

Times like this made Ava glad that her skin was very dark, because it concealed her blush much more effectively. Vigo's skin was not terribly light either, but Ava noticed a blush appear on his face, which in turn made the teen blush even further.

"I, like many victors, fear having children for the same reason many Panemians do," the older mentor explained, "we don't want to see our kids get reaped for the games. Look at Haymitch; look at Katniss. They're single for the same reason I am."  
"I'd be content with being single," Ava admitted, "unless I found the right person. But I probably just sound like some silly little teenage princess dreaming about fantasies that can never happen."  
"I highly doubt that," Vigo ruffled Ava's hair in a way not too unlike how Chel had when she was still alive, "you're too mature for that; too intelligent. I've always liked you as a tribute, because you knew what you wanted and knew how to get it. You surprised me with your bold alliance with the careers, even if you went and backstabbed them first…"  
"Hey!" Ava corrected him with an elbow to his arm, "that fucker Cress tried to attack me first, so I put an arrow into his sternum and called it a day. Well… and then Iris…" Ava trailed off, gripping Vigo's wrist with a vehement firmness that actually caused the man to take Ava's hand.

"Ava, ease up there… you're cutting my circulation off…"  
"Oh…" Ava looked down at her lap as she retracted her arm, "sorry. Well… you shouldn't have made the mistake of sitting to my left."

"That left arm of yours will be the death of me," Vigo laughed, rising to his feet, "but I suppose we should stop talking about death so much—at least for a while. What do you say?"  
"I'll drink to that." Ava agreed, "speaking of which—you have anything worthwhile today, or did Haymitch take it all again?"

"Let me go check." Vigo ruffled Ava's messy hair again. "Wanna shoot some dice while we're at it?"

"Just don't let Junichi hear you've been betting again, Vigo," Ava quipped.

"Hey, I didn't say anything about betting this time," Vigo called out from his kitchen, "This'll just be a gentleman's game. Don't tell Junichi—but she's driving me bankrupt."

"the only way she'll know is if I decide to collect on my debt, Vigo," Ava chuckled, finding this new change of subject to be quite delightful in contrast to the earlier discussions, "you owe me a considerable amount by now, you know."  
"But do you really need it," Vigo quipped, coming back with a flask in his hands, and another one in his other hand, accompanied by a pair of dice.

"If I was a moral woman," Aveline pointed out, "I would chastise you for your lack of inhibition when it comes to gambling and I'd freeze your assets here and now. Luckily, I give about as many damns as you do, and so you're safe for now."

"Even after all I've done for you…" Vigo tossed her the flask, "I even share my booze and this is how you thank me?"  
"Oh, can it, you boob," Ava laughed, "this is why I like being around you, Vigo—you smile more often."

"Eeesh…" Vigo shook his head, tossing the dice onto the nearby coffee table in front of them, "you really do spout cutting words, kid."

"Oh, so complimenting you for making me happy is suddenly an insult now…" Ava popped off the cap of the flask and took a shot, "Vigo, I'm hurt—so very, very hurt."

Vigo paused and rolled the dice before glancing back at Ava.

"You make me smile too, kid." Vigo admitted as Ava threw the dice in return, "there are times when you say or do things that make me forget that you're barely 16."

"1-0 my lead," Ava replied, handing Vigo the dice, "and well… that's admittedly why I felt awkward admitting you were attractive earlier."  
"The older you get, the more age just becomes a number though," Vigo remarked, "1-1, tie. With you though, Ava, you're far more mature than your age might suggest."

"I take it that's a good thing, right?" she passed the dice back to Vigo after throwing an eventless 6 and 3, "I mean—this whole 'I like you' thing isn't weirding you out or anything is it?"

"Shit;" Vigo threw snake eyes, "0-1, your lead. But to answer your question: no. It doesn't weird me out. I would definitely not recommend acting on it so swiftly. You and I are done risking our lives in death-arenas, so we've got plenty of time to sort out whatever feelings we have for each other. Besides—there's nothing that says we have to be romantically involved to be friends, right?"  
Ava chuckled, although blushed at the notion of a romantic relationship with Vigo. He had stopped growing, while Ava still had a few years left in her. She was not against the idea if Vigo was okay with it, but he was right—it was far too early to be acting upon it. The Hunger Games had taught her that much about acting on impulse—it could save your life while you were in danger, but when it came down to simple decision-making, it was often for the best to think things over.

"That's true," she agreed, "and I don't imagine that anything could really make me want to break our friendship. That'd be like me trying to say I didn't like Chel."  
"…or that I don't like Junichi," Vigo chortled, "even if she is an evil money-stealing woman who clearly uses her Capitol authority to rig her gambling odds in her favor."

"Oh, let that go already!" Ava laughed, throwing an 11 with the dice.

"Hey," he smirked, nudging the small girl, "I'm no Chel, but I like seeing you smile just as much as you like seeing me smile. If you want one, you've got to have the other; you get it?"

"Fine, fine…" Ava sighed playfully, "but what is it about my smile that intrigues you so…"  
"It reminds me that perhaps not all hope is lost here in '12." Vigo clarified, "it reminds me that maybe one day we can do what our ancestors a century ago failed to do."  
"Rebel…" Ava whispered, before her smile widened. "I was talking to mama about this a couple months ago, actually… and both of us are fairly convinced that if it happens, it'll start here in District 12."

"All the more reason to keep morale up, and spirits high," Vigo ruffled Ava's hair as he threw the dice, "there's more to mentoring than simply teaching kids how to survive the Hunger Games, Aveline. Remember that aspect, and you'll do just fine."

"Thanks Vigo," Ava gave pause to their game to wrap her arms around her old mentor. "Thank you for everything…"

It was not like everything was suddenly right with the world or anything, but Ava was much more relieved after this moment. She knew that there would be no stopping the 92nd Annual Hunger Games from happening at this point, but she also knew that she would be ready for them when they came…


	49. Epilogue--Chapter 49: Healing Scars

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _I know that I said I was done for reals with chapter 48, but being a sucker for character development the way I am, I felt that this was a nice little addition and a reminder of the losses that victors suffer. I feel like the ending in particular was a nice way to wrap things back up, but maybe that's just me. Kudos to anyone still with me so far, and by all means, let me know what you thought of this chapter or the story._  
_Happy Reading!_

**CHAPTER 49: Healing Scars**

Some wounds simply never healed—it was a brutal truth that many Hunger Games victors knew by heart. The pain might ebb away over time, but often times even the scars still hurt when they were touched, almost as if the wound has not ever fully closed.

Naisha Togisala knew these wounds well—she had lost her husband shortly before her 2nd child was born, and then had lost her son to these Hunger Games the previous year. While her daughter had emerged as a victor, she was well-aware that little Ava was not the same. It broke her heart on those nights when Ava would sit bolt upright, emitting bloodcurdling screams as she was met with flashbacks of the many times in those two short weeks that she was nearly killed.

_A dead man called out for his love to flee…_

Ava found comfort in the 'Lullaby of the Hanging Tree' for whatever odd reasons she did, but that particularly line was another grim reminder of how much she missed Wesley. They obviously weren't lovers, but the love the two siblings had shared had been genuine to its core. Wesley's last warnings to Aveline had been along those very lines—flee; flee from the bloodthirsty career tributes. Flee from Iris Durango, the vicious girl that had slain him. Flee from Chel Colorado—the girl whose betrayal of the other careers had them on the hunt for both of them throughout the games.

Despite the nightmares and horrors though, Ava was able to live somewhat normally when she wasn't panicked or anything. This particular day was one that Ava knew would break her heart, and so when it arrived,, she was unsurprised to find herself saddened. There were no nightmares; no horrific flashbacks; nothing at all—just a feeling of empty loneliness as she thought about what had happened.

"He would have been 18 today, mom." Ava sighed as she threw a light coat over her shoulders. It and the fact that she was wearing shoes meant she was going out—although her clothes seemed a bit nicer than usual, and Ava's hair seemed slightly less wild.

"It was always easy to remember with you two," Naisha sighed, "your birthdays were exactly 4 months apart—yours in the winter, and his in the spring."

"Did you want to come with me then?" she offered, "To Wesley's grave, I mean."

Every district had a little area set apart as a memorial to fallen tributes. Sometimes the bodies were sent back in caskets—other times they were just markers because there were always those horrifying times when there was nothing left of them to collect. Wes had been rather mangled after Iris had finished with him, but not to the point where they had to pick him up in pieces or anything.

"I… I feel like I should." Naisha sighed, "I haven't been able to for such a long time, but Wesley deserves that peace. If nothing else, he deserves it on his special day…"  
It was unsurprisingly that both mother and daughter had watery eyes on the short trip past the Victor Village and the District Square off into the Memorial Division. The walk there was somewhat uneventful. They only passed a single Peacekeeper who didn't even turn his head their way (access to this area was not forbidden; in fact it was maintained by the district citizens—usually those who had lost loved ones to the Hunger Games), and then briefly detoured to a meadow to bring some flowers to the grave.

It was a grim little place, heralded to the Districts as a reminder of the Capitol's brutality and the sadism of the Hunger Games themselves. It was here, some said, that rebellion brewed. Evidence of any rebellion was scant, if even extant at all, but anyone who had suffered a loss in these games knew what it was like. Ava's eyes darted around the area until they came to a small marker with the simple inscription: "Wesley Togisala, 91st Hunger Games".

"180…" Ava sighed, "there are 180 of these markers here."

"That's 180 too many," Naisha shook her head, kneeling as she placed the flowers at the foot of the small stone, "and it doesn't help that my little boy is one of them!"

"2 new markers pop up every year," Ava crouched down, placing her own flowers next to Naisha's, "every year except 25, 50, 75, 84, and 91. Those saw only 1 addition—50 got to see 3. It's just mathematics after that…"

Mother and daughter knelt in somber silence for nearly half an hour, images and memories of Wesley Togisala flashing through their heads. Tears were shed, words were exchanged, and an overall melancholic feeling lingered over the place for obvious reasons.

After pulling back from another hug with Ava in her arms, Naisha sighed. "I should probably be getting back now. Be safe, Ava—I don't know what I would do if I lost you too. You're my world now…"

"Stay alive, mom;" Ava sighed, "you're the world to me at this point. It's hard enough that I never knew father… but now with Wes gone…" she sighed and trailed off, giving her mother one last hug. The two of them wordlessly nodded to each other before Naisha headed home. Ava knelt back down and stared longer and more intently at Wes' grave.

"It's been a long day without you, brother…" she sighed, "we've come a long way since we began… and I guess I'll have to tell you about it when we meet again. I'm sorry, Wesley. I should have been able to protect you, the way you tried to protect me…"

It was another hour before Aveline moved from that spot, where she gazed at Wes' grave, or up at the sky or to the trees and other markers around her. Tears flowed down her cheeks again as she remembered everything they had ever done together: the times they had scampered through the woods playing hide-and-seek, or the time he had helped bandage up Ava's arm after a particularly nasty fall on a rock. She remembered the times he'd help her with her classwork back when they had gone to school together. Being two years her senior meant he knew a lot of the stuff Ava was being taught, and he was always there to help. That had always been who Wesley was as a person. Aveline had meant the world to him, and almost everything he had done—especially after they had been reaped together—had been to try and keep her safe.

Ava sobbed into her hands as she dwelt on his life and untimely death more and more. It was probably unhealthy to let herself get so regularly dragged down and bogged down by these thoughts, but sometimes, it was a way to find peace, especially in a place so morbidly serene.

Aveline only moved at all to turn her head towards a voice calling her name. To her slight surprise, it was Vigo. Ava turned away, for some reason not wanting to show him that she had been crying. Maybe it was because of the affection she harbored for the victor who was only 6 years her senior, or maybe it was simply her trying to appear strong.

"Vigo?" Ava tilted her head, still kneeling on the ground. "You didn't come here because of me, did you?" She hoped not. Not that Vigo was creepy to her or anything, but she didn't want to drag him down just because she was in a low mood.

"Part of me did," Vigo admitted, "but it was more your mother giving me the idea to pay an old friend of mine a visit."

Vigo stepped past Ava towards a slightly older marker. Ava got up and followed him before reading the inscription, which unsurprisingly came from the 84th Hunger Games.

"Valerie Lyautey?" Ava tilted her head.

"I told you that the girl from'2 knifed her near the end of my games, didn't I?" Vigo nodded, "that was her name. We weren't in any kind of romantic relationship or anything, but we were definitely friends—a lot like you and Chel, actually."  
"I've got a memorial to her in my backyard," Ava explained, "I can't exactly build a memorial to a District 2 girl here without things getting awkward, can I?"

Vigo cracked a chuckle. "Always the little pragmatist, aren't you?" he ruffled her hair.  
"Vigo…" Ava whined, "I actually brushed it today…"

"I like you better when it's messy," he quipped, "and it made you smile, even."  
"It's an ironic place for anyone to smile, don't you think?" Ava motioned her hands all around them, indicating the symbols and stones that all indicated one fallen tribute or another.

"Perhaps," Vigo shrugged, "but think of it this way, Ava—we can dwell on the deaths of these people and let it sour our moods as we are reminded of the grave injustices that were wrought upon them… or we can think back and cherish what they were able to accomplish in their lives. Remember Chel, Ava. She was the one who first said that—I'm merely repeating her words."

Ava smiled, thinking back to the battleaxe resting in the corner of her room and the small wooden marker that Ava had planted in the backyard with Chel Colorado's name carved into it, "it's true, you know…" she agreed, "but come on, Vigo—surely you understand how much it still hurts."  
"I wouldn't dream of thinking otherwise." Vigo agreed, "it's good to remember them, for better or for worse, otherwise history's just going to repeat itself."

"Still…" Ava frowned, "do you ever think back at old memories and wish you could change the past?"  
"All the time," Vigo sighed, "Just because someone doesn't have visible scars doesn't mean they're not in a battle of their own.

"You never really stop loving someone," Ava sighed, "you just kind of learn how to live without them."

"Someday it'll end." Vigo sighed, "In the meantime though, we just have to keep on living."  
"I'd lay my life down to ensure that others wouldn't ever have to again," Ava declared, "maybe they're right about this place, Vigo. Maybe this really is where rebellion is born…"  
She threw her arms around Vigo, who did the same in response, holding Ava close.

"And this is why I love you Ava," he chuckled lightly, running a hand through her hair, "you've always got the right words at the right times."  
"Really?" Ava looked up at him, "you love me?"  
"we've been over this a few times, but yes." Vigo confessed. "I do, Ava." Gently placing his fingers beneath her chin, Vigo's lips met Ava's in a soft and intimate touch. Brief as it was, Ava smiled when they pulled back a couple moments later.

"You always kind of were my childhood hero" Ava was blushing. "I never would have thought that I'd have my first kiss with you of all people."  
"Did you like it?" he asked her, his eyes still focused on her own.

"I did," Ava nodded, "thank you, Vigo."  
And perhaps as if to make it more meaningful, his next hiss went to Ava's forehead instead. Ava closed her eyes, sighing softly from the simple yet comforting gesture. It seemed that Vigo was right. There was solace and relief to be found thinking the way he suggested. Life would go on, and for now so would the Hunger Games, but perhaps what mattered the most was that while the games had been a vicious and trying experience for her, Aveline Lelani Togisala was not broken—nor would she allow herself to be.


End file.
